


No Where Left To Go

by emchilade



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Grinding, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Light Angst, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Self-Hatred, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Swearing, Verbal Abuse, also headcanon guzma as pansexual so, i think??? kinda, i'll add as i go i'm sort of making this up on the spot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 24,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9340193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emchilade/pseuds/emchilade
Summary: You joined Team Skull when you finally decided you weren't taking any more violence and yelling from your parents. Even though you weren't entirely into what they did with stealing from others, they were still like a tight knit family and they meant the world to you - especially your big bad boss. But when Guzma broke up the team, you world started to crumble. Everyone seemed to disappear before your eyes. You couldn't bring yourself to leave the mansion permanently, so you made it a home for you and the others who stayed as well. Guzma comes and visits from time to time, mostly to chew you and your sibs from different cribs out, saying you should leave the town behind. But this is your home now. Can't he feel it too?





	1. Where Are You Going?

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey I got a sudden urge to write, and this popped in my head. I'll try my best with it....guzma/reader deserves some more love tbh (i'm hopelessly in love with this man agh). Also, this is my first time writing a fanfiction so....go easy on me lmao. Idk how my updating will be, I'll try as best as I can, if you still wanna read..

You were crouching in the corner of your room in the big "Shady House" as you had come to call it. You Lyncanroc, lovingly named Puff, hadn't been eating correctly for a good while. Usually, he was all about the Rainbow Beans you'd manage to afford at times, but he hardly touched his regular food. His habits seemed to rubbing off on you, too. You couldn't quite remember your last proper meal. Days, possibly going on weeks? Even with the poor conditions you and your siblings had, you still managed to be able to cook up some large, warm, and delicious meals nearly every night. 

Well, they weren't quite siblings by blood relation. Some of them weren't from the same region, or even the same race. The amount of time you spent together bonding over the similar reasons you left your own parents made them family to you. Your actual family, in Heahea City, were more vicious than some of the Grunts you lived with. Your dad always reeked of cheap beer, knuckles red from hitting anything in sight. When it was your turn, you mom would provide the verbal insults. Quite literally adding insult to injury.

You tried to shake the thoughts out of your head. It was always a loop of thinking about how your life turned around for the better, then to how your past will never let up. No matter what you did. 

Sighing deeply, you tried to get Puff to eat at least half a Poke Bean. Thankfully, he accepted, leaving you with a small amount of relief. Puff had been with you the day you ran from home. You took refuge in Ten Carat Hill, the caves providing sweet coolness in the heat of Alola, compared to your house lacking air conditioning. Puff simply walked up to you, providing the warmth needed when it was too cold for your fingers or toes. When you heard your parents voices echoing throughout the cave, Puff led you away to safety. 

You smiled at the memory. If it hadn't been for Puff, you'd probably be locked in your room at this moment. You rested your forehead on top of his head, and Puff gently wagged his tail, happy to see you smile. 

"You're my best Poke buddy, you know that? I can't lose you. Please, eat..." You whispered. Puff whined, and swallowed two beans down whole. You scratched him behind his right ear, eliciting a pleased yip from him. 

You heard the door open quickly, and loud footsteps come near you. You almost didn't bother turning around, since you shared your room with five other grunts. You did anyways, in case they decided to play a stupid prank on you, and locked eyes with Plumeria. You gulped slightly, hoping she didn't notice the fear in your eyes. She wasn't even mean, really. She just intimidated the shit out of you when you were alone in a small space with her. 

"Can I pet your bud there?" she asked you. You blinked, surprised that it wasn't an order. You nodded, scooting over to give her space on the cramped floor. 

She knelt beside you, giving her hand to Puff to sniff. He licked it immediately, always welcoming a warm hand. Everyone on the team seemed to love big ol' Puff.

"I always had a thing for the Midday form. But my Salazzle takes up all my free time, so I haven't had the chance to look for one...Haven't even tried to steal one. Buggers are loyal as all hell," she mumbled. 

"Yeah, the little shits always take a while to tame. But Puff is my special boy," you said, getting over your momentary intimidation.

She laughed pretty loudly at that. "Now that you mention it, he never leaves your goddamn side, but always wants snacks and pets from every person in this base." She paused, scratching him under the chin. "You're lucky to have 'im. Y'know?"

You eyed her, puzzled. She seemed oddly sentimental. "Of course. He basically saved my life as a wild tiny Rockruff."

"Same with my Salandit. I was crying near the entrance of Wela Volcano Park when my parents kinda left me there. Tired of my shit, they said, wanted to teach me a lesson. Little gal came up to me with a burnt ass berry. Thought I was crying for food." She chuckled under her breath. "Only got t' officially catch and keep 'er when I left. They'd never let a Fire-type in the house. She's my baby, though."

"Man, fuck your blood fam. Fire-types are awesome!" You exclaimed.

She nudged your shoulder, laughing heartily. "That's the last thing I yelled at them too! Nearly pissed their pants, they did!" She stopped almost abruptly. "Reminds me, uh...I had some news."

You turned to her, alert now. There hadn't been anything juicy in a while. "What about?"

"The Boss. Y'know the job he had with the Big Bitch Lusamine?"

"Yeah. What she do, kidnap him and strangle him with Ultra Beast powers?" You questioned, attempting to lighten the mood.

However, Plumeria glared at you. Your heart started to race. "Aw shit," you groaned. "Am I right?"

"...Almost, yeah. Don't fuckin' joke about it. He came back from space all kooky and talkin' shit about disbanding the team. He's in his room right now, trying to think of a way to break it to everybody."

Your breath hitched. Disbanding the team? Why would he do that? He of all people should know that not everyone has a place to go afterwards. What could have possibly happened. Your mind was racing, and you felt your muscles tighten up, your breath quickening. Images of your dads raw knuckles and your moms bruised, dark eyes flashed in front of your eyes. 

Plumeria was wiping at your face. You realized you had started crying silently. She wrapped her arms around you and brought you in. Her smell was comforting, though you couldn't place what it was.

"I felt like you should be one of the first to know, without Guz saying it," she mumbled in your ear. "Especially because you've been a close bud to me even before the gang. I know you're scared n' all but... You don't have to leave the mansion specifically. You can stay."

"But it won't be the same. What about the others? What'll they do?" 

"I'll tell them they don't have to leave either. You can too. I might be a rude fucker, but I can't stand to see my siblings get hurt by something that can be prevented." She pulled away to look at you. Her eyes were glassy, as if she were about to cry herself. "I won't be able to stay myself. For the kids that have to go, I'll be out there for them. I have my own place now. Shit, you can come if you wanted. But I have a gut feeling you wanna stay here and help out."

"Of fucking course, Plumes. I'll kick the shit outta their parents." You tried to smile. "I'll make 'em shit themselves."

Plumeria grinned, though it seemed forced. You couldn't blame her. This was a devastating blow. "I know you will. You can as vicious as a rogue Lycanroc. No offense, Poofball." Puff shoved his nose in her ribs, whining a bit, seeming offended. Plumeria booped his snout. "I can take it back, ya bugger. You're a sweetheart. Take care of your buddy here, and everyone else, ok?"

She disentangled herself from you and stood up. She left without another word. You ran a hand down Puffs back, seeking comfort. You couldn't bear to see the faces of some of the Grunt's. 

 

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The next day, you awoke with an elbow shoved in your stomach, and a hand on your cheek. You had HORRIBLE sleep last night. Between the usual roughness some of your siblings had when asleep and your anxiety about what was to come made it impossible to even close your eyes. Eventually you lost yourself in the harmonized snores and got a short amount of sleep. You shook the limbs off of you, climbed over two sleeping bodies and made your way downstairs. Your throat was raw from crying last night. Some of your siblings came to comfort you, hearing the news themselves, and had a good cry with you. They were just as scared, and couldn't make up their minds. Some saw this as an opportunity to forgive and forget, some to find a dream job and house, others as the end of the world. A handful already decided to stay and keep you company. One of your closer siblings, named Dakota, offered to get some of them jobs so you could all have meals and tidy up the place. They assured you that they would do their best in keeping their special small family kicking. 

You hung on the edges of groups, avoiding conversation. Guzma was lumbering around, his eyes not focused on anything in front of him, and slouching even more than before. His usual haughtiness seemed to vanish overnight, and left a shell of what once was the big, bad wolf he was. You even tried to approach him once. He looked as if he were about to fall over at any moment, and he clung to tables for stability. 

"Boss?" you asked. "You good in the hood?"

He shook his head. "Do I fuckin' look it, dammit. Just...do somethin' else, fuck around with the others or something. Leave me be." He promptly stalked off, hands in his pockets, feigning balance. At first, you were royally pissed at the guy. But after seeing him in that state, you couldn't help but pity him. It was as though he wasn't making his own decision. Like he was possessed. 

Plumeria did mention something like that actually happening to him. That an unsettling Ultra Beast had intoxicated him or some bullshittery like that. She even drew it for you, and you shuddered. A jellyfish looking monster with no semblance of a face, but legs of all things. Creepy. No wonder Guzma was scared shitless after coming in contact with that thing. You decided to nickname it Jelly Fuck, getting a laugh out of Plumeria and some grunts. 

You whipped up some Tapu Cocoa for yourself as a breakfast treat. Sometimes, your boss would have an amazing surplus of it, and despite it being his ultimate favorite, he shared it with his siblings. When he introduced it to you, you got hooked as well. It was insanely addictive. 

"Damn right, I think I need Tapu Rehab for that shit," Guzma once joked.

Speaking of the devil himself, your boss walked in the kitchen fully dressed. You realized it was super early for you to be up, especially Guzma. 

"Hey," you said, instantly regretting it. Guzma was double grumpy in the mornings.

"Sup, fucker," he replied. You let go a breath you didn't notice you were holding. He seemed...alright.

"We're up early, huh, Boss?" You noticed him wince a bit when you called him that. "I almost choked on a finger. Some of 'em just cuddle like attention starved Growlithes."

He had his usual shit eating smirk plastered on his face when he looked at you. "Like you ain't one yourself?"

You scoffed. "Nah, man, I'm a strong ass Arcanine."

"Shut up," he said with a small, breathy chuckle.

You felt your face warm up. Getting him to crack a smile and laugh a little was a tad tough when it came to genuine jokes. It always seemed to be from stealing or messing around or when he got a bit drunk that he lightened up more. You swelled with some pride.

You tried to keep it going. "But when somebody has a Sweet Heart, I become putty in their hands, like a mushy, melting Ditto." He laughed again. "And Tapu Cocoa? Man, you don't wanna see me then! I almost rip their head off with the jaws of a starving Carnivine!" He had to stop himself from continuing making his Tapu Cocoa to snicker a bit more. 

"Well, you're just a newly hatched Eevee in reality, so stop talkin' the big man talk," he said, coming to rest his elbows next to yours on the steel table, mug of his beverage in his large hands,

"You're as wimpy as a Wimpod, ya Bug nerd," you counter, sticking your tongue out at him. It was always nice to get him in a calmer place to joke with him.

"Come on now! Don't shit on my child! You're as dirty as uh...as a.....as a Trubbish! Hah!" he retorted, pleased with himself.

You put your hand on your chest in mock offense. "I never! Your as goopy as a Grimer!"

"Fat ass Hariyama!"

"At least I'm as strong as one, you freaky Durant!"

"Yeah, well you're a stupid Slowpoke!"

"Weirdo Wurmple!"

"Bugs are cool, dammit!" He exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table, laughing loudly. You didn't even care if your fake arguing woke up the entire base. It was completely refreshing to hear his laugh. It was soft, but very loud, and he sometimes snorted in between. It was almost opposite to his grumpy personality. 

"I agree, Cutiefly is a beast," you said, giggling wildly. You were still insecure with your laugh. You found it horrible, compared to Guzma's charming laugh especially.

"It's cute, ya gotta admit. Livin' up to namesake. I'd go out for one myself if I didn't already have the cutest."

You cocked an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Source? Proof?"

He looked you directly in the eye and said, "You, of course."

You took a spit-take, burning your bare legs with your drink. You? Pssh, yeah.

"I'm kidding, geez. Besides, rumor has it that Dakota got the hots fer you!" He said, laughing gleefully.

You laughed along, momentarily hurt. But no matter, you thought. You weren't the most attractive person at all... or were you? You could never tell. "Dakota is aromantic, asshole! No way!" 

Guzma threw a napkin at you so you could clean yourself. "Yeah, I just wanted to see you react. Brightened my day right up," he said. He finished his Tapu Cocoa with one last gulp and chucked the plastic cup in the trash. "I gotta get goin' though. Shit to do. I am a boss, after all. But seriously though. Good mornin'."

You looked into your drink for some kind of answer. You've been around to interact with the boss so many times. You were basically best friends, really. He even wanted to promote you to an Admin like Plumeria, but you rejected. You enjoyed the lack of responsibility. Though you definitely gave it serious thought many times. He was like this often, but this morning was different due to him losing his way in Ultra Space. Maybe he felt safe around you? You shook away the notion. Of course not! What were you thinking?!

The time for pondering was lost anyway, as the usual plates and bowls were thrown onto the table for a group breakfast. Plumeria walked in and gave you a hearty smile before walking into the other room to set up the table for eating.

You sighed, and finished the cocoa. Today felt directionless and timeless.


	2. Settle Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guzma finally mentally prepares himself to break the already known news, but you completely lose your own stability for a while

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm overexcited about the small amount of attention i've gotten so.....extra chapter because i don't know what to do with myself

You ate as much breakfast as you could fit in your stomach, and could hardly move for a good while. Puff ate some scraps tossed to him, looking just a bit more energized than last night. It made you relax seeing him eat a bit normally, finally. One of your siblings, Evelyn, coaxed him into eating more than just the scraps once everyone left the make-shift dining room, and he mustered the energy to eat just a bit more. You thanked Evelyn relentlessly, worried sick about your buddy. She dismissed them saying, "It's what a family's for, right?"  
You still gifted her with a kiss on the cheek, and some Rainbow Beans for her own Pokemon. You insisted, not taking them back she tried to shove them back in your pockets.

The rest of the day was too uneventful for your taste. You and some of your siblings strayed from Po Town, taking the day to train a bit. You and the team have been beaten down one too many times, and wanted to at least put up a decent fight. Puff is your only teammate, and while you love him to death, he has one too many weakness. You've been meaning to look for a Grass Type, since they're one of your favorite types. You decided to travel all the way to Lush Jungle, and passed up on the Fomantis around. Finally, after a long hunt, you come across a precious little Bounsweet, unaware of you. You toss a Quick Ball at it, trying to avoid a fight - Puff was a bit too powerful there. Puff went up to sniff the quivering ball, and placed a paw on it, as if trying to keep it closed for you. You laugh at the sight, and hug Puff, encouraging him. You pick up Bounsweet's ball and hooked it on your belt. Until evening, you did endless training in Brooklet Hill. You and some of your siblings even battled each other to grind some levels. Passerby gave you suspicious looks and glared your way the whole time. At one point, Matt, the youngest grunt in the team, tugged his eyelid and stuck his tongue out.

"Keep lookin' at us and I'll punch your teeth in!" he yelled. The strangers scoffed and returned to their business. Everyone threw random taunts their way, making them flush in embarrassment. You used your signature Pokemon comparisons, calling them doofy Drowzees and forever-alone Zubats. All the laughter completely pushed the thoughts of the team disbanding out of your head, and you even dared to stay out a bit longer than the natural curfew of the team. When night fell, the grunts would at least return to Ula'Ula Island, but you stayed right there in Brooklet Hill. You chose a soft patch of grass to lay in, Puff curled around Bounsweet, which you now called Bon-Bon. Dakota sat with their knees under their chin, gazing at the starts along with you.

"Today was better than usual. Less insults thrown at us," they said. They took their skull beanie off and pulled their bandanna down, relishing the cool breeze.

"Mhmm. Lil' Matt was my favorite today," you replied, mindlessly stroking Puff. 

Dakota laughed. "I can't believe he threw exactly thirty beans at those grumpy ol' men calling us shitty names!"

"30 less beans for the babes," you said, laughing along.

"Totally worth it. Also, little Bon-Bon over there is the cutest fuckin' thing I've seen in a good long time," Dakota said, leaning over you to give Bon-Bon a pat on the head. 

"I know right?! I knew you'd like her too," you replied, staring past Dakota's arm. 

"You know me too well, you." They leaned back to run their fingers through there curly black hair. It reached just past their earlobe, so there wasn't much to do with it except grease it back sometimes. "We should head on back, yeah?" They suggested after a moment.

You grunted as you leaned up, and called your Pokemon back. You were almost hesitant to return to the happy chaos at the Shady House. The change to the serene quite and occasional Pokemon noises left you craving it more. But of course, you couldn't sleep out there. 

As you predicted, there were already grunts tumbling on the ground in play fights, and loud yelling coming from the kitchen. It was nearing dinner time, and some of your siblings were too clueless to cook. No matter the outcome, everyone ate the food, burned or undercooked. Though you were alarmed to see a faint wisp of smoke coming from the doorway.

"Ah shit, I'll get that," Dakota grumbled, leaving you at the entrance. You sighed, and climbed up the stairs to your shared room to see two of your siblings, Mina and Nina - actual sisters this time - arguing over a tear in their tops. 

"I swear to god, if your Scyther did this, I'll fuckin' kill it," Mina yelled.

"Piss off! Your Meowth is a little shithead, buy it a fuckin' cat toy or this wouldn't happen!" Nina retorted, nostrils flaring. 

You ignored them, and left the room. It was bothersome sometimes living under one roof with so many people. Personal belongings always got damaged. At first, there'd be constant fighting about it, but the anger would fade slowly. You and your siblings could be assholes, but you know everyone here would take a bullet for another. 

Instead of the usual way to Guzma's room you climb over the busted chandelier, earning yourself multiple cuts, some deeper than others. You muttered angrily to yourself, knowing it was a shitty idea anyway. You wondered why the chandelier was even fucking necessary there. 

But you knew of course. Guzma had to make it hard on everyone else, being the biggest asshole of them all. You swear he got off on making everyone pissed. 

All you wanted to do was hang out on the balcony with a sibling or something, but no one was up there except Guzma himself. You took a deep breath and got ready to turn around before he called out your name.

You turned to face him. "Sup, Boss?"

"C'mere. I wanna talk." He patted a cushion next to him. Did he have that set out for you...?

You sat on the cushion, but replied with a hearty "NO!"

He chuckled. "Glad to see you have the spirit. But...stop, ok?"

You paused, studying him. The usual bags under her eyes seemed deeper than usual. There were deep lines at the corners of his mouth that weren't there before, and he had faint stubble along his jaw. He looked more disheveled than he tried to look intentionally. 

"Like what ya see, babe?" He grunted. He met your stare with cold black eyes.

You gulped. "Not at all. Ya look like shit."

"Thanks for bein' honest. Everyone else lied to me, sayin' they didn't wanna hurt my poor little feelings. They think I'm that level of asshole. Cares about looks all the time."

"Weird. We always joke about how you dress. Like, what are th-"

"It's 'cause I'm breaking up the team. You know, I know. Tryna get on my good side so I don't." He scoffed. "I wanna feel bad but... I really don't know. It feels right."

You frown. "Well, can you blame 'em? We ain't got a place called home except here with each other and you. What about your dad, man?"

He huffed and glared at you, eyes widened in frustration. "Don't. Fuckin'. Go there. I am aware of my shit old man. I'm aware of your shit parents. I know, alright?! But we can't keep this up."

You tried to look at anything but him. You hated bringing up his dad for the obvious reasons, but it didn't seem like he was thinking of them himself. 

"Can't you think of...I dunno....an alternative? Different gang, different name, different everything?"

"No, shits for brains. Name one person who'd do that for all of us."

"Hala?"

"Fuck you."

"I'm right, though."

"Piss off. I don't like the fucker. Melemele Island is the tiniest damn thing, too. No room, I bet."

"We make room."

"Eat a cock, you useless Magikarp."

"Making jokes, are we?" Your chest swelled, not with pride like last time, but deep anger. You hated being called useless. Anything else was perfectly fine, but that was your limit.

"Straight up. You're not getting it. So go somewhere else. This talk hardly helped."

"Only after you apologize."

He laughed way too loudly, seeming to mock you. "ME? APOLOGIZE? You don't know who you're talkin' too."

"Eat shit."

"Sure, whatever, I do everyday with the shit you guys burn up in the kitchen."

You slammed your fist in the ground. "Would you stop? These people will be homeless, for fucks sake! And some will go home to parents and family trying to kill them even! We appreciate you, each other, we tried! Why are you even doing this, what's the reason!?" you yelled. The whole mansion fell silent. Everyone heard your outburst, and it felt like everyone was holding their breath. 

Guzma seemed unperturbed. "I'm leaving the mansion for everyone to stay in, yeah? I'm not the asshole here. And shut up, would ya? Nanu even heard that, probably. It was fun bein' your bud, but I gotta go. Have fun." Before you could respond he practically jumped up from his seat and briskly walked away. Plumeria appeared where he once sat, looking at you. You leaned into her, trying your damnedest to contain your sobs. The fucker called you useless. He knew that was the one thing you hated. And he did it anyway. 

"He didn't even say why. Do you know Plumes?" You mumbled. 

She opened her mouth as if to tell you, but closed it, and shook her head. But you knew he confided in her. She was just "protecting" you, you guessed.

********************************************************************************************************************************************

You woke up to a near empty mansion that morning. The same handful that previously promised to stay greeted you with the best breakfast they could make. You wolfed it down, sharing it with Bon-Bon and Puff. You were still seething from the incident yesterday. It seemed to radiate off of you, and everyone avoided you. You could appreciate it though. If someone tried to talk to you, you might burst. 

You left to blow off steam by training up some more. But the more you battled wild Pokemon, it felt like more anger rose in you. You forced random people to fight you, and won all of them out of brutal force instead of any real strategy. Bon-Bon and Puff just went along with it, trying not to interfere with you letting go of anger. But the more you tried, the more you found pent up.

Eventually, you stole a large assortment of clothes from the Malie City apparel shop, probably coming up to thousands of dollars. That managed to calm you down enough, but in case, you managed to pickpocket a huge wad of money from unsuspecting people. You returned to Po Town, calmed, but with a guilty conscience. You hated stealing, even though it's what Team Skull did all the time. You knew that you would stop feeling bad about it eventually, though. 

You handed out the clothes to your siblings, and they thanked you and put them on, excited to have clothes that weren't the same old uniform, no matter how much they cherished it. 

The passing days seemed to go just like that. Battling, stealing, sharing the goods. You never seemed to calm down. One thing that put you at bay for a while was Bon-Bon evolving into Steenee. You could feel the hard work paying off, and you were momentarily pleased enough by that. You sat under the shade of a tree on Route 10, sharing a Big Malasada with your Poke buddies. You dozed for a what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes. When you opened your eyes, Plumeria sat in front of you, cross-legged, giving you a stern look. 

"Yo, Plumes. Chillin' like Snorunt?" you asked, lightheaded from just waking up. 

"No. In fact, I'm currently fuming like a Torkoal. Why've you been stealin' shit?"

You sighed. "I'm pissed. Nothing is helping. Not battles, not stealing. Dunno."

Plumeria groaned. "This isn't helping your point to Guzma, either. Talked with him a bit ago. He's kinda pissed."

You breathed heavily through your nose. "Don't give a Rattata's ass."

"You know damn well you do. He apologized for calling you useless, also. He's actually scared to confront you, hearin' about this new you," she said with a smirk, resembling Guzma's.

"Did he?" You perked up just a bit. A weight from your shoulders seemed to disappear in that moment. 

"Said it might calm you down. And he did sincerely feel bad. He did that hair-tugging he does over it." She shook her head disapprovingly. "Hate it when he does that shit."

"It does, yeah. What are you doing out and about anyways?"

Plumeria shrugged. She twisted her pink and yellow pigtails in a braid as she said, "I've been on the look out for some of the kiddos. Some of them I found bloodied and beaten up far from home. Others have actually made some amazing lives for themselves. Jy is working at Mallow's diner, didja know?"

You raised your eyebrows, actually surprised. "That's amazing, actually. Proud of her."

She nodded. "Mhmm. Matt and about 7 others are stickin' with me. Got some trailer houses for them near Tapu Village among other places. How's the big ol' Shady House coming."

"No progress. I've been out making my shitty decisions. Again. I'm an idiot Plumes."

"Stupid decisions were made, yes, but an idiot you are not." She undid her braids and started toying with the zipper to her leather jacket you just noticed she was wearing. She was always fidgeting around with some odd or end. Calmed her down, she had said.

"To each their own," you replied with a shrug. 

"If Guzy boy heard you say that, he'd kick your ass into Ultra Space."

"Haha. Funny. Truly." Internally, it felt good to hear that. 

"Also came around here specifically 'cause I was plannin' to help you fix up that debris filled house there. Wanted to talk to Nanu 'bout it too. Figured you and the lil' buggers would need a Helping Hand."

"The jokes are too funny Plumes. You're under arrest."

She shoved you onto your side. "Not goin' back to jail. Seriously. Want help or not?"

You sat back up and thought for a moment. But the answer was right there in your still healing cuts.

"First thing I wanna do is get rid of that shitty chandelier."


	3. A Variety of Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shitty chandelier is proving to be even more of a nuisance, until the big bad wolf comes around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the kind words, it really helps with the ol motivation!!  
> i'll update regularly (more like i'll try to) each day, so there's that.  
> apologies for typos i miss, i'll try and go back and fix some after i post!

Transporting the broken glass outside was proving more difficult than you originally thought. All of your siblings were gifted with cuts ranging from different depths, and blood was smeared on walls. While they were mostly just clumsy little bastards, you couldn't help but add another thing on the list of why you were pissed at Guzma. This never happened before, but he clearly wasn't thinking when he put it there. Puff and Bon-Bon were trying to avoid being around the ruckus and hung around outside where it was just a fine drizzle. You always let them out when you were at the base, so calling them back was out of the question. You hardly did so in general anyways. 

You called for a break, getting increasingly more frustrated. Everyone looked grateful and plopped down wherever there wasn't glass scattered. Matt came around with cold cans of soda, his face red from the labor. He came up to you and placed a can in your open hands. "The more we do this, the more I question my safety here," he said.

You shrugged. "Yeah, but we're doin' this so we don't get cut more in the future," you responded. 

"I know, but...I feel bad for leaving, y'know? Plumes's place is nicer. N-no offense, either," he stuttered. 

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure that it is. Good luck in whatever you're doing, knucklehead." You ruffled his dyed blue hair, making him smile.

"Duh. I'm no lazy Slakoth," he said before walking away to strike conversation with Mina and Nina. 

You sat silently in a corner, deep in thought. You still couldn't get Guzma's words out of your head. There was an ache in your chest, and you knew you missed the guy. But you didn't want to dwell on it, because every time you did, your anger got out of control, trying to beat the sadness out. You scooched over to distract yourself with the groups conversation. Plumeria had brought over the underlings staying with her to lend a hand in cleaning the place up. You could see the melancholy look in their eyes as they wandered around. They picked up some random scattered items, studying them. Another thing on the list.

***************************************************************************************************************************

Nanu appeared in the front entrance, giving you his usual emotionless stare. He said he was distracted by the loud clashing of glass when he was doing his 'rounds' around the town, and thought you were up to no good. You huffed and and almost gave him an earful when Plumeria gently shoved you aside and faced him.

"None of that shit anymore, you crusty old man. Tryna get our acts together now. I wanted to talk to you about it, too," she said.

Nanu shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Whatever. If you manage to clean out this dump, I'll pay you all personally to the best meal at Sushi High Roller."

"Deal. Could always use a free meal around here." Plumeria held out her hand, and Nanu shook it roughly. "Show some respect, geez." Nanu shrugged again.

You grunted and ignored them talking, trying to block them out. You picked up small bits of glass haphazardly, earning yourself a variety of cuts all over your palms. Mina and Nina watched you carefully, almost afraid of you. They whispered amongst themselves, pointing vaguely in your direction. You ignored them as well. Your annoyance was turning into anger again, and you skipped stairs at a time to reach the second level. Mindlessly, you hopped over cabinets and dressers on the floor blocking Guzma's room, and you swung the door open, almost expecting him to be there. You kicked at his shitty throne and even wiped some of the blood onto it, muttering to yourself. You couldn't make sense of how you were feeling - all you knew is that you wanted to scream at someone. Nanu suddenly showing up and his stupid blank expression pissed you off even more. You didn't need his help - what did Plumeria even want to do with him?

You sank into the throne, pulling your legs under you. Why did Guzma leave? Why hasn't he visited? You thought about trying to find him, but there was nothing to base off of, and you didn't want to face his parents on Route 2. The last time you paid them a visit, you were met with a golf club to the back, chased away with insults thrown at you. 

When you calmed down, you felt your hands burning. You completely forgot about the cuts you had. Before you could reach for the doorknob, it opened, nearly hitting you. You jumped back, expecting the sisters to come worrying about you. Or even annoying Nanu to taunt you.

But it was none other than Gumza, glaring down at you. You weren't very short yourself, but he was simply a giant compared to everyone else. 

You sneered. "How'd you get in?"

"Plumes let me. Clearly," he grumbled, noticing you clasping your hands together, drops of blood falling here and there. "What'd you do there?"

"Your stupid chandelier is causing some problems. If you'd get out of my way, I'll fix the rest of it." You tried to shove past him, but he blocked you with his body.

"No you don't. Lemme help you out."

You groaned loudly. "Oh, shut up, shit lips. Show up out of the blue, wanting to help? Piss off."

"I'm serious." He wouldn't look away from you, trying to get you to stare back at him. "Let me fix you up."

"Will you leave me be if I let you?"

"No. I wanted to see you."

You turned away from him, unsure of what to say. He started to walk in, closing the door behind him. You noticed he was carrying some disinfectant and bandages. 

"Sit down," he ordered. His gaze fell on the blood on his throne, making him grin. "Man, I guess you were pissed."

"No shit." You sat in the throne again, avoiding looking at him. 

He knelt in front of you, taking one of your hands in his. He poured the disinfectant straight from the bottle onto your hands, making you bite down on your lip. He didn't seem to know what he was doing, and took your other hand, making the liquid pool up in your hand. He went from kneeling to squatting in front of you. 

"How's my cutest Cutiefly?" he asked, smirking.

"Shut your whore mouth. I don't wanna hear it," you muttered. "No matter if I'm sort of glad to see you. I'm still pissed."

He scratched at his chin, his stubble gone. "Yeah, yeah. What'll it take to get you unpissed?"

"Apologize to my face. About that good useless bit you fed me a bit ago."

"Didn't Plume-"

"Yeah, but I want it from you, dammit."

He paused, tugging at a lock of hair. "Well, sorry."

You sighed, feeling content. "Accepted. You gonna bandage me up or what?" You stuck your still wet hands in his face. 

He gently grabbed them, rubbing a calloused thumb over your knuckles. "Duh. Not an idiot." He clumsily wrapped your hands up, the liquid soaking through. "Maybe a little bit of an idiot. I suck at this."

You poked the tip of his nose. "Doesn't matter. Probably won't get an infection now."

"Probably." He stood up and placed his large hand on top of your head. "Why's the old bastard here?"

"Plume wanted to talk to him. Dunno," you said shrugging. You felt his fingers working through your slightly knotted hair, untangling hit. It was one of your more sensitive spots, and when someone played with your hair you really did become a mushy, melting Ditto. However, your dad took advantage of the sweet spot and tried to swing you around by it. 

You tried to ignore the intrusive thought, leaning into Guzma's hand. 

"Humph. He's weird," he mumbled. He took his hand away, making you whine internally. 

"Mhmm. Hey... I still don't know why you broke up the team. Plumes won't tell me either," you said. You wanted to slap yourself. Good going, idiot, you probably pissed him off.

His eye twitched. "The shit that happened in Ultra Space made me have some crazy epiphany, ok? Happy?"

"No, I'm not, keep goin'. What ab-"

"Stop," he grunted, tugging at his hair. "I wanted to check up on you, not talk about this shit."

"Pssh, whatever, Boss." 

"Don't call me that either."

"Alright, Guzy boy."

He chuckled - just a bit. "Not that, either. Plumes is the only one."

"I take full offense to that, Guz." 

He rubbed his knuckles into your scalp roughly, making you kick his shin. "Shut up, you crybaby Bonsly. I still gotta check on my other kiddos."

He walked away as you hollered goodbye with some choice words, still sitting in the throne. It made you feel a bit more powerful than your normal weak and useless feeling. You decided this would be your new room. It held this power and the memory of your favorite boss after all. 

Guzma came back up, peering in through the cracked door. "I'll visit more often, though. Expect me to barge in."

"Whatever, Bug nerd." You feigned nonchalance, but you felt your heart rise. He seemed to still feel attached to his real home and family. 

************************************************************************************************************************************************

The night came way too quickly. You laid in Guzma's old bed, trying to get past the annoying spring poking from the mattress. You stayed in the small room all day, investigating the empty booze bottles and broken laptop he left behind. No one came up to bother you except Puff and Bon-Bon bringing dinner with them. You ate the burnt food too fast, and felt nauseated the rest of the day, leaving you laying there, trying to sleep with a flipping stomach. 

You couldn't get Guzma's words out of your head again. Or the feeling of his rough, scarred hands on yours. Or his laugh. 

You slammed your hand into your forehead. You were losing it. Officially losing it. You felt crazy for feeling anything other than friendly shit towards...anyone really. But Guzma of all people? Sure, he'd notice you and your ugly ass.

You shook your head, skin stinging from hitting yourself. 

Sleep wasn't going to come easy.


	4. Found You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your bandaged hands prevented you from labor, so you left to train and search, running into something you didn't quite expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope no one takes the MC/reader thoughts too personally when feeling ugly is mentioned...you're all wonderful beautiful people <3  
> also sorta wanted to shoutout irinokat for writing an amazing fic called "Healing" that really motivated me to write something down for the first time in a long while, lmao (check it out, it's super good)

There was hardly anything for you to work on with your bandaged hands. Plumeria and your siblings didn't mind in the least, and let you out to do whatever you liked. You settled on training some more, trying to become stronger than even Guzma. At first, you were going to head as far as Blush Mountain, but passed it to Tapu Village. From there, you decided to check out the supposedly haunted MegaMart. This Mimikyu Pokemon had caught you're interest, and you were wondering if it would serve you well in battle. But it couldn't really be haunted by a bunch of Ghost Pokemon, right?

"It's haunted, alright. My Mimikyu lives there!" a tiny voice said, right behind you.

You jumped, almost falling to your knees. Acerola, the creepy Ghost friendly girl, simply smiled at you, eyes wide and sparkling. 

"Christ, kid, ever hear of announcing yourself?" you barked, straightening your clothes out. The rumors had definitely put you on edge. 

"I have, but I'd rather be quiet. The Pokemon in there don't really like loud noises!" she said, oblivious to your annoyed tone. 

"Sure, yeah, but I ain't a Pokemon," you mumbled. "I'm goin' in. Got some training to do."

Acerola cocked her head, a puzzled look on her face. "In there? Why? Anything specific you wanna catch?"

"I was wondering about a Mimikyu but...I hear they're rare or something. Scared that they're ugly." Just like you, you thought. 

"Oh, yeah, they don't like being seen without their costume! I have a feeling you can get friendly with one though, as long as you're sweet to them," she said, giving you a warm smile. 

"We'll see. Now, scram. I'm goin' alone." Before you entered, you made sure she was a fair distance away. You didn't want anyone in there with you to ruin your chances.

When you stepped in, the first thing to meet your nose was dust. Instantly, your nose was clogged, and you had trouble breathing. Of all days not to wear your uniform bandanna over your face. You released Puff and Bon-Bon from their capsules, shushing them before they could make a noise. You walked as slowly as possible so as not to make a noise. You wondered how Acerola could do so at a regular pace. While you weren't convinced it was actually haunted, it definitely gave off that vibe. An unsettling feeling twisted your stomach with each step. Puff was whining and was so close to your legs, you nearly tripped multiple times. 

All of a sudden, a shopping cart rolled across the floor in front of you. You gasped, and stepped back a few steps. You had to breathe heavily through your mouth, your nose rendered useless here. Bon-Bon patted your leg, and pointed in front of you. She seemed to be trying to urge you to continue, seeing nothing that could be dangerous. 

"Bon, why'd I come here in the first place? This was stupid." No response. 

You watched the cart warily as you stepped by it, walking into one of the many aisles. There were bags of stale Tamato chips strewn about and you couldn't help but gag a bit. Some other leftover food smells made their way onto your taste buds, making you try to hold your breath. Did they even bother to clean it up just a bit? Wasn't this a trial site too?

Out of the corner of your eye you swore you saw something run away. You swiftly spun around to face it, but there was nothing. Bon-Bon had finally lost her nerve and hopped onto Puff's back to ride and shoved her face in his fur for protection. You felt eyes burning holes into you. But no one seemed to be there. 

You made your way to the far right corner of the store, where big plush toys were in a row. You thought about taking one back until you noticed the moldy stains on them. Despite that, you tried to take a closer look at them, stepping closer. But when you were almost in it's face, it fell over onto you. You yelped fighting it off you, disgusted and scared shitless. 

You heard a familiar laugh, and almost stopped in confusion. You flung the large toy off of you to see Guzma, hands on his hips, with his trademark smirk big and wide on his face. "Man, didja really think this place was haunted?! You're a goof!"

"Shut up, dammit. You scared my Poke buddies." You tried to keep yourself out of it.

"Oh, not just them, you almost pissed yourself, didn't you?" He laughed. "GOD this made my day!"

You growled, though you were glad it was just him and some unseen ghost. "And you're an idiot. What're you doin' in this dump anyway?"

"You're in the dump too. I just wanted to look for cool shit. I hear there's a sick ass Gengar somewhere around here."

"Funny. I was lookin' for Mimikyu."

"Aw, you got a soft spot for those weird things," he cooed tauntingly. 

"They're not weird. They're kinda cool, I think," you said, a bit embarrassed. 

"They can be weird n' cool. Golisopod is a bit freaky lookin', but it doesn't stop it from bein' a badass."

"Fair enough. Though I think it's just freaky looking."

He hopped over the table holding the toys, and held a hand out to you. "Shut up. You're all snotty."

You tried to grab it with your hand, but he avoided the bandages and grabbed your wrist, pulling you. 

For a moment, you caught a whiff of him. Some kind of cologne maybe? But it smelled amazing. You almost leaned in to get a better smell until you noticed something running away again. This time, though, it stopped, and it stayed right there, staring at you. 

"Guzma...I want you to shut up and stay still," you whispered.

"Shit, whatever." He let go of you, not bothering to turn around at what you saw. You got back down on your hands and knees, crawling toward the Pokemon. From afar, all you could make out was that it was yellow. Then it hit you - this was a Mimikyu. And probably what you thought was a Pikachu earlier. It didn't move an inch, allowing you to get closer. You were finally just a foot or two away from it. You sat cross legged in front of it, staring right back at it. It could have been a few seconds or a few minutes, but the Mimikyu moved forward to approach you. You held out your injured hand, allowing it to sniff it for a moment. It placed a shadowy clawed hand into yours, making excited, garbled noises. Before you could say anything to it, it ran off. 

"Shit," you heard Guzma say in the distance. You hung your head, disappointed. It was so tantalizingly close. 

You felt Guzma pat your shoulder as he squatted next to you. "Better luck n-"

Before he could finish, the Mimikyu had jumped on its head, covering his eyes with its claws. Guzma yelled, swinging his arms madly to get it off. The Pokemon hopped away happily, looking like it was having the time of its life.

"That little fucker..." he grumbled. He laughed, though, fixing his usual messy hair. 

"Think it wants to play?" you asked. 

"With you, maybe. Go, chase it or somethin'. I'm chillin' out with these guys," he said, pointing over his shoulder at the oversized plushies. 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The little game between you and this wild Mimikyu lasted for a while. As soon as you almost had it in your reach, it would hop away, looking back at you. At first, it was frustrating, but the delighted squeals it was making lightened your mood. Guzma never left despite his chance too. He kept his eyes on you, watching you run around the store.

Finally, after feeling your lungs become raw, the Mimikyu finally let up and shuffled up close to you. You squatted in front of it, giving it a pat on it's fake head. It shivered with joy, and ran around you, making itself dizzy. Puff and Bon-Bon got over their prior fear and approached this new Pokemon. 

Guzma joined you in your squatting, watching the three creatures chase each other now. "That thing looks like it never runs out of energy."

"My legs feel numb, dude," you said, grabbing his shoulder for stability. 

"You should do something like this. Like, takin' care of scared or lost wild Pokemon. Not...nevermind."

You didn't bother to ask. You knew it was about the mansion and you fixing it up. "I don't think I'd have all the patience to do that all the time," you said instead.

He wrapped his arm around your shoulder, keeping you balanced. "Fair enough. But you look exhausted. You should go back."

You agreed, standing up. You called for your Pokemon to follow you, and Mimikyu was first to reach you. You bent to pet it again, and made your way over the debris to the entrance.

You looked back to check on your Pokemon, but Guzma was no where to be found. You backtracked a bit, fear clenching your chest. He was just standing there, still looking at the large plush toys. You approached him and shook his shoulder a bit. "Guz?" you asked faintly.

"Nothing. There's just...something about these," he mumbled reaching out to touch the toy. Immediately, it floated out of reach and above his head. You both gulped frozen in place. A Haunter appeared directly in front of your face, laughing maniacally. 

"DON'T STAND THERE, DAMMIT, RUN!" Guzma yelled, yanking you by your arm. He half carried half dragged you back to the entrance. "IT'S CHASING US, HOLY FUCK."

Puff had Bon-Bon on his back, and slammed through the door before anyone else. Mimikyu sounded like it was laughing at your fear. 

You looked back to see the Haunter licking the window, taunting you. You stuck your tongue out back at it, making it pound on the glass doors.

"Well? How was it in there?"

Acerola stood before you, holding on to the hand - was it really a hand? - of her Drifblim. 

"HORRID," Guzma wailed. 

Acerola hid a smile behind her free hand. "I told you it wouldn't be so fun, Guzma! As for you there, it looks like you got the Mimikyu you wanted!" She pointed the Pokemon that decided to sit upon your head. 

"Y-yeah. It wanted to play around is all..." you mumbled, still stunned.

She nodded approvingly. "I knew you'd do good! Ya gonna name it somethin' special?"

"Mimi," Guzma said before you. "What, it fits."

Mimi floated over on top of Guzma's head instead, ruffling his fluffy white hair. It made more joyous noises, this time sounding more like human speech, though it was still difficult to make out. 

"Aw, it likes you!" you teased. "Why don't you keep it for yourself?"

Guzma scoffed, lightly punching your shoulder. "Right. Like I could take care of this thing."

You stood up finally, and held your hand out to him. "We gotta get goin', dude. I got some kiddos to see."

He got up by himself, shoving Mimi over to you. "I'll take you to Po Town, then." Without another word, he grabbed your wrist and pulled you away from the site, leaving Acerola giggling just a bit.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

He never let go of you, even when you went inside. He even followed you up to his old room that you now claimed. He insisted on removing your bandages for you, seeing you to sleep.

"Someone's all touchy feely tonight, huh? Need some lovin', big guy?" you said with a cheesy grin.

"The thing at the mart scared the shit outta me, ok? Leave me alone jackass," he retorted. "Besides, if I remember correctly, you were also begging me to hold on to you the whole way here. 'Oh, Guzma, I'm so scared! Hold onto me and never let me go, my prince!'" He teased, raising his voice to a higher pitch to mock you.

Your face flushed, embarrassed. While you barely said a word about it, you were terrified still and never wanted him to let go. "I didn't say it like that, ass."

He shrugged. "That's how I remember it at least." He threw away the moist bandages, and sat on the corner of the bed next to you. "I was glad to hold on though. Didn't wanna lose you to panic, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah, you were the one that almost shit your pants, though," you said, pushing him gently. 

"I'll admit, I was losing my mind. Normally I'd be fine, but since..." he trailed off. You knew he was thinking about the Ultra Beast and Lusamine going crazy. You wrapped your arm around him and pulled him in a bit. You could smell him better now, though the cologne from earlier was mostly gone and replaced with some sweat and rain. 

"Don't worry 'bout it. Just don't chase after Gengar's like that again," you said, almost as low as a whisper. 

He placed more of his weight onto you, nuzzling his face into the crook of your neck. You tried to ignore the warmth in your cheeks. You've done with him many times before, but recently it's been feeling different to you. You craved it a lot more, and when you cuddled, you could never get close enough. 

"Hey...uh...do you mind if I spent the night? I ran out of money for a motel, and..." he said into your skin. The vibrations of his deep voice gave you goosebumps. 

"Doesn't matter. We got room."

"I mean...in here....I don't wanna be alone." He looked up at you, his eyes red and droopy. You didn't mind in the least - you needed the contact anyways.

You pulled him down in a hug, stuffing your face in his chest. God, how was he so warm when it was so cold?

Sleep came a lot easier with his arms around you. Before you felt yourself doze, you thought he muttered something to you, but you couldn't make it out. It was probably your imagination, anyways.


	5. The Answer

When you woke up, you were alone, tangled up in the green sheets. The spot next to you was still warm, so you curled up in it, not wanting to get out of bed. You breathed in the wet smell that lingered, relishing it. It reminded you of the soft patter of raindrops that lulled you to sleep without fail. Even on the worst nights, when you could hear your parents arguing at full volume, the rumbling thunder and the soft rain calmed your nerves. Even the smell of rain put you at ease somehow. 

A cold hand brushed your bangs away from your closed eyes. You cracked them open, facing the wall of the room. You flipped around, seeing Guzma kneeling beside the bed, his hair matted down from being wet. 

"Mornin' sunshine. Your breath smells really bad, and it's one in the afternoon," he said in a low voice.

"Well, fuck me, I'm late," you whispered. Your body felt like it was tied down to bed, and you couldn't get yourself to move very much. 

"We got the chandelier outside. I helped out some, but...it's so ratty in here."

"I wonder who let it get it that way," you said, mustering a mock angry glare. 

He ruffled his hair, pulling at a few strands. "Yeah, I know, I should of done better about it. At least dust some ol' shit off, but you got a sneezing fit all the time. "

"Yeah, I remember. Forget about it. Stay and make up for it." You took his hand away from his head and held it in yours, massaging his palm.

He turned away, and wiped his face with his arm. "Can't. I shouldn't, more like."

You propped yourself up on your elbow, feeling anger rising. "Where are you even staying? You mentioned a motel, but you said you ran out of money, right? This is the safest place for you. I'm really not understanding you."

"Of course not," he grumbled, turning back to you, his face flushed to a deep red. "You don't even know the real reason."

"Cause you won't fuckin' tell me! That's your fault there, don't blame me for that. Why won't you stay?" You tightened your grip on his hand. 

He gulped, suddenly taken aback by your louder volume. You were wide awake now, though you hated feeling like that in the morning. His hand started trembling, and he bit his lip. 

"In Ultra Space...I touched one of the fuckers and..." He wiped his face again, but this time you noticed his eyes were glassy. "Lusamine went bat-shit crazy because of the same Beast. And I thought that could have been me. In a way I am right now..." He stopped, looking at a spot on the floor. 

While your stomach felt warm from being angry, your shoulders relaxed and your face softened. This was the most you've gotten him to say. You coaxed him on by stroking the top of his head, scratching his scalp. His hair was incredibly soft, like touching the underside of a Liepard. 

"I talked to Wicke," he continued. "They're parasitic and toxic. I think...I might be poisoned or something. I sounds silly but...I can feel it, really. It latched on to me, it made me do weird shit. But she said I'd be mostly fine. MOSTLY. I broke up the team cause I shit my pants over that, ok? I'm not the same, I don't feel it. I could hurt any one of you. And this place is weird as hell, why are you staying here?"

It all came out in one breathless burst. You laid there, absorbing what he had said. "I think I get it but...why are you so paranoid about the mansion?"

"You'll laugh at me."

"No." God, why did you start the morning out like this? You've barely been awake for twenty minutes, and you already yelled at someone. "I won't laugh. Trust me."

He shrugged, avoiding your eyes. "It's too big. I feel like that...thing could be anywhere."

You sighed, pulling his head up by his chin, forcing him to look at you. "Thanks. For tellin' me. I understand it now. But one more thing." No response. "Why do you want us out so badly too?"

"Same reason, dammit. I don't want it to hurt any one. It's stupid. So stupid." He pushed your hand back and started to stand up. "It's probably gone but who knows? I don't." He slammed the door behind him as he left you alone again. 

Now you _really_ didn't want to get up.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

You managed to crawl out of bed and make your way to kitchen for a drink. Guzma was no where in sight. 

You ran into Plumeria and Dakota talking in the kitchen, but they stopped when they saw you.

"You look like shit, dude," Dakota said.

Plumeria nudged them in the ribs with her elbow - hard - and came over to you. She started parting your hair, muttering to herself about oversleeping and "at least put some effort in, shit". Dakota handed you a mug of something that you chugged without checking. 

"Guzma was here," Plumeria said. "Said he wanted you to see him more often some place that isn't at the mansion or Po Town at all."

"Sure. I might," you muttered. You stepped into the sometimes dining room, sometimes battle room, and saw a long table that was never there previously. It looked cheap, with multiple claw marks covering it, the same with the chairs accompanying it. You realized you hadn't quite processed it when you were going to the kitchen. This hall under the staircase led to it after all. A not so faint cat smell emanated from it. 

"Nanu lent that to us," Dakota explained behind you. "Smells like shit."

You didn't mind the smell. Along with the smell of rain, you enjoyed (certain) smells that cats made. 

The rest of the day went fast, since you slept most of it away. You decided it would be an off day for your siblings staying under the roof. The small handful who still called this their permanent home. 

The group collectively decided on a Battle Royale, to test how their training was paying off. You observed from afar, your heart not into it. Battles weren't you're favorite thing in the world to pass the time with, so you usually just watched the others. You tried to pay attention to the moves being thrown around, but your thoughts were elsewhere. Thinking about Guzma almost crying in front of you made your stomach flip. You wished you hadn't yelled at him, but you were glad to finally have the answer you were seeking. And the more you thought about it, you definitely wanted to see him again in a different setting. Watching his eyes flicker to every nook and cranny in the room, looking for an intangible danger, made your anxiety spike as well. It was a sucky situation in general to see him paranoid like that.

You went inside after pretending to watch, and grabbed your almost dead phone. You hardly used the thing, except to text anyone who was doing some different task apart from the rest of the team. Though there were days and nights where you'd spend a long while talking to Guzma, since he was always off doing his own thing. 

You called him a few times before he answered. He hated voicemails.

"Guz?"

"I answered, you know it's me." His voice was slightly muffled on the other end, making you strain to hear him. 

"You wanna grab some malasadas in Malie City tomorrow?"

"Fuck yes," was his instant response. "You sure you have the money, though?"

You thought about the bills rolled up under your mattress from your string of days where all you did was steal. 

"Yeah, don't worry about it," you answered, wincing. 

"See ya then, babe."

"Buh-bye." You groaned and flopped on the bed. You tried to stop yourself from smiling until it hurt. 

Being called babe by him made you forget about how much you hated yourself for a long while, right until you passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, i hope no one takes the whole "hate myself, think i'm ugly" thing too seriously.... to be honest, this is a slight coping thing for me as well, i'm struggling with that kind of thing. i myself wanted some story out there to show that loving someone and being loved by someone romantically and/or sexually doesn't make it magically disappear.  
> i do hope you still enjoy <3333


	6. Don't Lie To Me

Even though the malasada shop wasn't very fancy, you thought it would be a nice change of pace to abandon your stained Skull Tank for the stolen black dress you kept for yourself. You kept your uniform white sneakers, and black knee-highs you always wore to cover up leftover scars from your fathers rough hands and other clumsy incidents. The dress came down mid-thigh, and the sleeves reached your elbow. Plumeria whistled at you when you arrived for lunch downstairs. 

"Didn't think Guz asked you on a fuckin' date. Tryin' to impress the guy?" she teased. You pushed her, laughing. "Seriously, I never seen you wear a dress."

"Felt like it," you said. "Besides, no point in keepin' the uniform, really."

"Guess not. What are you still doin' here, you're keepin' him waiting." She took a second before saying, "I think he'll like how you look in it."

You ignored her, calling for your Pokemon to follow you. They greeted you excitedly, Puff sniffing at your new clothes. You hurried out the door, Plumeria yelling goodbye after you, shielding yourself from the heavy sheets of rain that always came close to flooding the town. No one bothered to even think about getting umbrellas. You and your Pokemon ran down the graffiti filled streets to be greeted by Nanu at the front gate. He was soaked to the bone, and you could see him shivering.

"The fuck are you doin' in this weather, you old bastard? This can't be good for your old people bones," you yelled over the loud weather.

"I get it, I'm not twenty years old like you. Drop it." He handed you a Ride Pager, something you've never been able to use personally. Nor did you really want to. "You probably don't want to walk all the way to Malie City."

"How do you know that's where I'm goin'?"

"I was just there. Your boy's sitting outside of the malasada shop and I talked to him."

You snatched the pager from him, annoyed. "Don't get all buddy-buddy with us. Just get us that sushi when we're done fixing up this dump," you snarled.

He shrugged. "I never intended to be friends with any of you. Guzma was the one asking me about you. I was trying my damnedest to ignore the guy."

You called for a Charizard, choosing not to respond. His monotonous voice and his blank, cold eyes freaked you out after a while. You called all your Pokemon back for the ride, and released them as soon as you touched land again. The way your stomach was churning, you thought it would probably be better to stick to walking. 

Guzma was pacing in front of the shop, staring at the ground when you approached. You ruffled his hair when you got closer, making him jump. 

"You're lucky it's you, or you'd be passed out on the ground right now," he said, pulling you in for a tight hug. You returned the embrace, struggling to breathe regularly. His fingers lingered on your arms longer than normal as he took in your outfit. "You look cute today."

You shoved him away, scoffing. "Sure, whatever. Let's get the food, yea?"

For a moment, it looked like he was hurt by your dismissive words. You tugged him along by his hand, getting two spicy malasadas. Second to Tapu Cocoa, it was his favorite thing. 

You sat down at a table, and he sat across from you. Pokemon were allowed to be out in the store, so Mimi, Bon-Bon, and Puff curled up under the table together. 

"Where are you staying now?" you asked him. "Why'd you run off?"

You noticed he wasn't wearing his usual short sleeved hoodie, and it was replaced by a black sweatshirt with the same sleeve patterns. He took a deep breath. "I felt stupid for admitting I was scared. So I went to my parents house to sleep. And I fought my dad."

You gasped, anger twisting your stomach. "What the fuck! I'll kill the bastard, what did he do?!" You reached for his covered arms, and he pulled away from you. "Don't do that EVER again! You're not stupid for that, you were worried and scared and....and it's normal! YOU need to be safe, dammit. I'll give you money to stay at a motel again or something. Don't that again." You kept repeating that, trying to keep yourself from getting up and going to Route 2 yourself. You hated his dad the very core.

"You're overreacting," he muttered. People were staring in your direction. "Please, can we talk about that somewhere else?"

You almost screamed at him, that you were reacting as rationally as anyone, but you caught yourself. You were exhausted of yelling at him for a while. "Fine. Sure. But at least tell me you didn't get hurt too badly."

He pulled his sleeves up, revealing large, ugly bruises. They were rimmed with vomit like yellows, and deep purples going on black. "Nothing broken. But he got the fucking golf clubs out."

You pounded your fists on your thighs. "I'm going to fucking kill him."

"No, you're not." He reached over his untouched food and held your face by your chin. "Don't say that, man. The asshole's getting what he deserves already. Lost his job. His own Pokemon ran away. Karma's biting his ass, so don't get mixed in it yourself."

You took a few deep breaths and managed a smile. "They ran away? That's amazing."

He laughed. "I know, right? I saw it, too! His Pancham punched his kneecaps and broke his nose against the kitchen counter!" He wheezed at the thought. "The little fucker ran off, laughing its ass off."

You covered your mouth to hide your smile, giggling along. He was definitely getting what he deserved. 

Guzma grabbed your hand away from your mouth. You tried to pull it away from him, but he held on firm. "C'mon, don't be like that. I was serious when I called you cute." You hid your blush with your free hand, and he took that one away too. "I wanted to see the cuts on your hands anyways. See how they're doin'."

You finally let up, turning your palms towards him. He investigated them, shaking his head sometimes. "Some broke open again. They're really deep. The hell were you doin'?" He grabbed them both by the wrist, bringing them closer to his face. 

"Nothing. I wasn't trying my hardest to take care of them, either."

"You should," he mumbled. "Hey, I'm gonna do somethin', but I don't have the nerve to ask you straight out. If you don't like it, you can slap me or something. Is that cool?" He looked up at you, his cheeks glowing a soft pink. 

"I have no fuckin' idea what you're talking about, but whatever."

He hesitated before bringing your hand to his mouth. He gave each individual scar a gentle kiss, and his face grew redder and redder. You were shocked into silence as he took your other hand and did the same thing. This time he went a bit father and put your thumb in his mouth, giving it a small suck. Immediately, his eyes widened and he yanked his face away. "I-I'm sorry. That part wasn't...supposed to happen." 

"Is this a joke?" you asked, voice cracking.

"What?"

"Is this some sort of prank? Calling me cute out of nowhere, and those kisses were probably to get a 'funny' reaction out of me, huh?"

"Not at all, what are y-"

"I'm not cute, and I hate when people tell me that out of pity or as a prank, get a couple laughs. Didn't think you were that kind of asshole."

"What the fuck are you talking about? Those people were assholes then, that's not at all what I'm doing. And don't say that about yourself."

"I can and will, fuck you. I have as much appeal as a Grimer, really. Go say that shit to someone in your league." You started to shove the malasada in you mouth, ignoring the nauseous feeling you started to have. 

"Don't do that stupid comparison thing you do. What'll it take for you to believe me?"

"Nothing, because I don't at all. You of all people couldn't like this piece of shit."

"Get your head out of your ass, holy fuck. You're so....oblivious." He held his head in his hands and chuckled to himself. "Can't believe I came out and did all of that for you to just shrug it off. Not even a rejection, or that slap I expected." He took his food and fed it to your Pokemon under the table. "Come with me. Outside. To the garden."

Before you could answer, he dragged you away by your arm. You did enjoy his affection but, deep down, there was an uneasy feeling that it could somehow be a joke on you. 

Once passing the gateway into the garden, he sat you down in one of the many gazebos. You Pokemon followed you, but kept their distance. While they were off playing chase in the distance, Guzma stared at you.

"I don't know what you hope to gain from this. Don't you like Plumeria or something?" you said with a low voice.

"A while ago. But then I met you." He sighed. "I still don't get why you bash yourself like that."

You hung your head, avoiding his eyes. "I deserve it."

He groaned and embraced you again, this time with less force. "No, you fucking don't. Sometimes, I think I deserved the beatings my dad gave me. And it gets hard to remind myself that he's the asshole in the situation, not me. I mean, I'm a dick, don't get me wrong, but not as a kid. I can get that it's a fuckin' nightmare to get yourself to believe in something you don't, but please. Try."

You lost yourself in his warmth again. The day was surprisingly more chilly today, added on to the fact that you were still a bit wet from the rain in Po Town. "Thanks, I guess. But I'm not the only one who thinks that. Everyone does, man."

"I don't." He pulled away just enough to look at you. "Plumeria doesn't. None of the grunts do."

"How can you?"

He sighed. "Do I gotta list off what makes you attractive to me?" 

You frowned. "Short list, then."

"Shut up," he grunted. 

He kissed you then, his big hands cupping your face. You were too stunned to kiss him back, so you sank into it, letting him do all the work. He pulled away earlier than you would have liked, but he kept his face close. "Scale of one to ten, how much do you believe me now? One being not at all."

"...Five or something."

"Good." He planted a kiss on your forehead. "Y'know, I never knew how much I wanted to do that, until just now."

"How long have you liked me?" you asked, trying your best to keep your breathing under control. 

"Shit, I dunno. When did you join the team, when it first started? Maybe then."

"Two years ago," you mumbled.

"That long then."

"Why'd you never say?"

"Too much shit goin' on in the team and my own head. Not gonna lie, thought you were a lesbian for a while, too."

You laughed. "Weirdo Wimpod."

"What, it wasn't that weird! You were always flirting with every chick on the team for a good while!"

"Not always seriously, dammit!"

"Key word, always."

"I flirted with the guys and other people who weren't either, too. Funny how you never noticed that."

"Thought they were family to you."

"You're sick, that's not what I-"

"I know, I know." He paused and gave the side your neck a soft kiss. "You should come to the motel with me."

You raised your eyebrows. "I don't think we're at that stage yet, young man."

"Not what I mean, asshat." He brushed a piece of hair away from you eyes. "Just to fall asleep or something. It's the safest I ever feel is when I..."

You gave him a quizzical look, urging him to continue.

"When I hold you," he finished, looking away. 

You nodded, face beet red. The way to the motel was a pleasant walk, with him holding your hand.

You looked at him after a while, finally reaching the motel, and said, "That happened really fast." 

He smiled, a genuine one for once. "You mind?"

"Not really, but...It feels like there was more to be said." 

He held the door to the room open for you, shutting it behind him. "Maybe. So are we dating now or something?" he blurted, regret spreading across his face.

"I mean, why not?" you said quietly, giving him an awkward hug. "I've never done anything romantic before so I have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do in a relationship."

He patted your head. Puff was watching his every move, daring him to hurt you. "Neither have I. Don't worry about it."

You and Guzma spent the rest of the day inside, playing with each others Pokemon, and kissing every once and a while. 

When night fell, you crawled in next to him. He lent you a large shirt of his to wear to bed, but it still felt just as uncomfortable as the dress to you. You stuffed your head in his chest, breathing him in. The same cologne was there, stronger than last time. He gave you one last kiss before falling asleep right after.

You, however, found it hard to even close your eyes. Here you were, cuddling with your friend of two years, who had suddenly become your boyfriend. You couldn't tell if this was paced right, or if you were going too fast with this already. Did people kiss before they dated? At least, like he had? You were embarrassed at your lack of skill in anything physical other than hugs. You knew Guzma, however, had had plenty of sex and kissed multiple during it, so he knew what he was doing there. 

"Stop thinking about shit, and go to sleep." Guzma's gravelly voice surprised you. He probably woke up from you squirming in his arms. 

"I wasn't."

"Like hell. Just go to sleep. Everything is fine." He flipped over onto his back and pulled your head onto his chest. "But tell me if you need anythin'."

You sighed, and listened to his heartbeat. The thundering heart lulled you into sleep, and you felt your anxiety about everything between you two fade away for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *yells because 500 hits, what the FUCK*  
> tysm?? i feel like i'm overreacting a bit by being this excited but HHNGG


	7. Just One More Day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ack sorry for not posting yesterday. i was having a bit of trouble figuring out where to go from the ending of the last one  
> also i might be shit at writing kisses/making out stuff aaa

_It was your sixteenth birthday finally. Normally, you'd throw a medium sized party, and most of the guests would be friends or co-workers of your parents. You never had many friends, and this year there was even fewer. So this party happened to be fairly small. Dakota, Matt, and Plumeria stood before you, gifts in hands. They wanted you to open them away from your parents, saying these were secrets to be kept. They were the only ones that knew the true nature of your parents, and formulated their own escape plan for you. You ripped apart the wrapping on the presents, finding surpluses of snacks, Poke Balls, Potions, money, a large travelling book-bag made for the hiker type, with a sleeping bag tied up at the top. You thanked them, tears in your eyes. They're families were unable to house you, so you had to find a way on your own. Some of the families were bad as well, but others were just unable, and you knew it was because your parents would be able to hunt you down._

  _You didn't feel any fear when you thought about running away, or them tracking you down. You focused on the fact that you'd be surrounded by wild and your own Pokemon, just like you always wanted. Your small group of friends swore they'd keep track of you in the wilderness, and take care of you. They didn't even know themselves how they'd manage that, but it made you feel more relaxed either way._

  _The rest of the party went smoothly, including the gift opening. You were able to hide the secrets away under your bed without anyone knowing. You faked happiness while opening the various boxes of clothes and school materials. None of your parents friends knew you very well, so they bought whatever "the teens liked these days."_

_When everyone had said their farewells and the house only held you and your parents, it was fairly quiet for once. You holed up in your room, stuffing new and old clothes into your new pack, just to be prepared. It looked like it was about to burst from the amount of stuff in it._

_The expected arguing began around midnight. It was particularly intense then. You could hear glass smashing here and there, which was something unusual. You had on trekking boots, shorts, a regular tank top, and a hoodie on, ready for the Alolan night. Booming footsteps approached your room, making you shake with fear._

_Your father pounded on your bedroom door, causing the whole house to quake. "GET OUT HERE RIGHT FUCKIN' NOW! YOUR MOM JUST TOLD ME YOU HAD SOME KINDA HIKING GEAR IN YOUR ROOM! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PLANNING, GIRLY?"_

_You cracked open the window, and shoved one leg through. They had somehow caught on to you. You thought you were sneaky enough, but you were always a klutz._

_It was your sixteenth birthday. The day you finally ran away._

_******************************************************************************************************************************************_

You awoke with a start, jumping out of bed, gathering your bearings. You were still in the motel room that you had fallen asleep in. Guzma was still snoring away, and your Pokemon were in a cuddle pile in the small bed provided for them. You tried to steady your breathing, but you couldn't shake the nightmare out of your head. It was supposed to a wonderful birthday for you, and in a way it was. You finally got away, but you were enraged at the fact that is had to be then of all days.

Your dad's screaming was what scared you the most. Just him saying your name made you tremble. 

You sat back down on the bed, still attempting to collect yourself. You hoped and prayed that the signs of your outburst would be gone by the time Guzma woke up. 

He sat up next to you after that thought, and you silently cursed. Just your luck. He rubbed your back with his one hand, making you calm down just a bit.

"Nightmare?" he asked. You nodded shakily. You felt as though you were overreacting about it, but it had been a while since you've had that specific dream or seen your dad.

Guzma kissed your cheek. "I had one too. Shit's wack."

You leaned into him, releasing a long, drawn out breath. How did he make you feel so calm?

He started massaging your scalp, eliciting hums from you. You weren't entirely better, but you felt like you had a better grasp on yourself. 

"Thanks," you mumbled. "What was your nightmare about?"

You felt him shift under you. "Ultra Bastard."

You returned the favor by massaging his neck, feeling his usually tensed muscles relax under your touch. His posture was taking a toll on him, and any time someone brought it up, he would yell. It was just like him not to give a shit about his personal well being. 

"What do you wanna do?" he asked you. "Do I get the day with you all by ourselves?" He smirked, and suddenly pushed you down on the bed. He pinned your wrists above your head, leaning in so close that there was only a few inches between his face and yours.

"I should probably be back at Po Town, really," you said, though you liked the idea of sticking around with him. 

His fingers tightened, and you could foresee the small bruises on your wrists from him. It made you shudder in a good way, and you truly didn't mind if he made his mark on you. You mentally shook yourself. Where did that thought come from?

"Aw, c'mon, ya don't belong there. Stay with me for another day at least," he purred. 

"But the others...they might be worried," you countered. "I should at least ask them."

He sighed, releasing you. "Sure, whatever."

He scratched along his jaw as you texted Plumeria, saying that you might not be back until nighttime. You didn't expect a response very soon, since she'd probably be asleep right now. You checked the time...11:34 AM. Your usual time to wake up. Plumeria, however, has been known to stay up until six in the morning and sleep until five in the evening.

The moment you set you phone down, Guzma pulled you back into the same position, except he didn't pin you this time. "You hungry yet? We can eat first."

You shook your head. You were too interested to see what he wanted. 

"Good. But you should also uh..." He pointed at Puff, who was staring at him. "Do somethin' about them."

You let them outside to play, knowing they wouldn't stray very far off. They knew how to take care of themselves well. Even though Mimi was new, you were confident in her too. 

Before you could move away from the door, Guzma was already behind you, kissing down your neck. You shivered from the unexpected contact. 

"Fuck, you're adorable." He picked you up bridal style, and set you back on the bed. He was more gentle with you than you thought he'd be. He climbed on top of you, trailing his hands up and down your sides. "God, I can only imagine how amazing you'd look naked."

You crossed your arms over your body. "T-Today? No, no, you wouldn't like it either way."

"Never said anythin' about today. We can move at your pace. But don't feed me that shit," he said, cupping your chin. "I already like what I see right now."

You gave up the argument and placed your hands on his shoulders. He was lean, though he had a bit of a gut that puckered out. Your stomach did the same thing, but he somehow made it look way better, you thought. 

He pinned your arms down again, and pulled at your bottom lip gently. "You like shit rough or soft, babe?"

You squirmed, feeling self conscious. "I don't know...I never tried either."

"Start with gentle then," he said, his voice low and gravelly. He kissed the dip in your collar bone, pulling your shirt down just a bit. You whimpered, starting to get uncomfortable. He noticed, and stopped.

"Seriously, I don't think I want my body out," you said.

"I wasn't gonna strip you. I thought you'd like it there," he said.

"I'm too bad at this."

"Don't worry about it. You can let me do all the work."

"I guess. I can say no, though...right?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm an ass, but not that big of one. Of course, princess."

You snorted. "Princess?"

He shrugged. "Thought you'd like it."

"I do. A lot."

He grinned. "Got it, princess."

He continued kissing your neck, making you whimper in pleasure now. You had no idea your neck was so sensitive like this. He worked his way up to your jaw and then your lips, starting out softly. You tried to kiss back, though you weren't sure how to. You bit his lip, causing him to moan into your mouth, which you took as a good thing. You did it again and again, harder and harder.

"That's a dangerous thing you're doin', kitten," he said when he pulled away. He was panting slightly. "Shit like that makes me crazy."

"Was it bad?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "I meant I really like it, dumb ass. But it makes me get rough."

You gave him the best shit eating grin you could manage. "And if that was my intention?"

He breathed sharply through his nose, and bit his lip. You could feel his length grow harder when your were biting at him, and it pushed against your thigh now. "That'd be hot, but I know it wasn't."

Your phone vibrated, shaking you both into reality. 

"Shit, Plumes  _just_ got back to you. It's like, two hours later," he said as he handed it to you. "Finish it up quick, I don't want my boner dead right now."

You giggled and snatched your phone away. The text read:

_**Plumes:** Get ur ass back here rn, some bullshit just happened. Get guzy boi here too_

You made Guzma read it too, and he sighed. "What a fucking boner killer. I'm beating her shit when I get there."

"Have fun explaining why." You both got dressed, but as slowly as possible. While you were worried about your siblings at home, you didn't want him to stop kissing you up and down. 

He hugged you from behind. "Do we gotta go? I was having fun. You were probably getting wet too."

You leaned into him. "Even if I did, I wouldn't wanna do anythin' about it. Stop whinin' and get your ass ready, I'm worried."

He stepped in front of you, opening the door. He still wore his boss uniform, but you just noticed the large red X across the skull symbol. You felt your heart drop to your stomach. There really wasn't hope for the team to be reformed, would there?

Your Pokemon were running around in the parking lot, just as you expected. You called them into their Poke Balls, and called for Charizard with your Ride Pager. 

Guzma clung to you tightly, more scared than you about falling off. When you reached Po Town, the rain had lifted for once, and you saw a bunch of your favorite numskulls in various tight groups. 

"Fuck happened here?" Guzma yelled over the wind. You didn't answer. You hoped that it wasn't as bad as Plumeria made it out to be.


	8. Running out of creative chapter titles, uh oh

Guzma refused to let go of your hand. He slouched and pulled his hood up, scanning the area. You could tell he didn't want to be in town any longer than needed. The small packs of your siblings were throwing wild gestures around, but more aggressively than usual. They were apparently arguing over something.

Plumeria leaned against the beat up red truck in the middle of the road, taking a drag from a cigarette. You've never seen her smoke before. When she saw you, she dropped it, and stamped it out with the toe of her shoe. She walked up to you, pulling you in for a hug. 

"You're gonna be fucking pissed," she said, and turned her attention to Guzma. "And  _you_ are a fuckin' idiot."

"Yeah, yeah, save it. What do you want," he growled. "Don't got all day."

You elbowed him in the side roughly. "What is happening?"

She paused before saying anything. "So everyone is getting thrown out of here," she said, tugging at her hair. "Nanu's pleasant cop buddies came over and said we got a week to find a place to stay. Remodeling this place again for the higher ups, they said."

You immediately began to burn with anger. Of course they were going to throw out the homeless for people who could afford housing anywhere else. Let alone the rich. You shoved her aside and made even more dents in the already ugly truck, making your knuckles bleed. Plumeria stepped in front of you, pushing you away as gently as she could. 

"Don't touch me," you snarled, regretting it instantly. "I'm fuckin' sorry, but I'm kicking those goddamn...Those bastards think they can just kick us in and out and....YOU'RE RIGHT I'M PISSED." 

Guzma grabbed your hands and wrapped them in the front of his shirt. "You're gonna lose your hands if you keep doin' that shit." You tried to yank them away from him, but he was stronger than you. "Seriously. Stop."

"And you're sooo much better than her for being so chilled out right now, huh, Guzy boy? If you hadn't stepped down and kept control here, this wouldn't be happening!" Plumeria yelled. She started shoving him away from you, pounding her fists into his chest. "What the fuck were you thinking?! You're so stupid, so stupid, stupid! This was the safest place for us, for fuck's sake!" Her yelling became loud sobs, and she fell to her knees. "This is all your fault, Guzma. Look at what you did. Our family we had goin' is dying out, man. Why would you leave?"

He knelt before her and patted her head. He avoided her staring, though, keeping his eyes on you. 

The other grunts gathered around the commotion. 

"Shit, it's Guzma!" 

"Could'a gone longer without seein' his ugly mug..."

"What an asshole! We're getting thrown out 'cause o' him, yo!"

You disappeared into the crowd, and forced yourself into the Shady House. You already missed the name like it was gone forever. You skipped steps on the staircase, and curled up in Guzma's makeshift throne. You reached your foot out to knock down the tall rack of empty bottle, relishing the loud sounds of glass smashing against the floor. Some of the shards dug into your calves, and even landed into your lap. You swore, and tried pulling them out. Small amounts of blood gushed from the new cuts. You sighed, annoyed with the fact that you somehow always managed to harm yourself like this. 

You were alone for a while. It was as if everyone made a unanimous decision to leave you to yourself to blow off steam. You released your Pokemon, cuddling with them on the bed, trying your best to swallow your rage. You didn't want to return to your loop of thievery and forcing strangers to lose to you again. Puff licked your cuts, making the sting less noticeable. You ran one hand down his back, and the other was holding onto Mimi's arm that she offered. Bon-Bon snuggled into Puff's fur, avoiding the sharp rocks in his mane. The only noise was soft whispering downstairs and Puff's noisy tongue. 

Finally, someone decided to check on you, none other than Guzma. He sat in his old throne, picking at the stuffing coming out of the cushion. 

"Sorry," you mumbled. 

"Whatever. Just stop...doing that," he responded, his voice raspy. "I had to yell at Plumes after you ran off. She started saying I was just like my dad, and accused me of beating you." He chuckled, and you could hear the tears threatening to come out. "Said she didn't mean it, but she's still so damn mad at me."

"It wasn't right and she knew it."

"Whatever," he repeated. "Guess I deserve some of it. I did kinda cause this."

"I was thinking about that. It could've happened whether you were here or not. She's wrong."

"Whate-"

"Shut up."

He sighed and came over to you. "Can I join or do you love your Pokemon more than your big bad boyfriend?"

You laughed, and made Puff make room. Guzma laid down, his face close to yours. "I'm only gonna do this for a little bit, and we're leaving soon to figure this shit out."

You pulled him closer, burying your face into his chest. "We can try. I don't wanna see them numskulls out on the streets again."

When you looked up, Mimi was petting Guzma with her other shadowy claw. He didn't seem as bothered with her as last time; in fact, he seemed to welcome her affection. 

"Hey, Guz?"

"Fuck is it?"

"When do you plan on like...buying a permanent place to live instead of going from motel to motel, and crashing at your old place?"

He sighed. "I'll get there when I get there, geez. Why?"

You shrugged. "S' a thought."

"What, you wanna live with Guzy boy?" 

You made an obnoxious snort and pushed him. "Nah, you probably don't even know how to wash dishes, ya nasty."

"Well, you're probably that asshole that doesn't replace the old toilet paper roll with a new one when it's gone."

"I am." 

He gasped. "I didn't realize my girlfriend was so evil, holy shit."

You flushed at him calling you his girlfriend. You thought you'd never get used to that.

"You better?" he asked.

You completely forgot about your anger. Every time Guzma came around, he was able to distract you somehow. You never even noticed when or how he changed the subject into joking about something. "Yeah actually. I'm calm."

"Good. Your hands are too fucked up for you to be angry right now."

*******************************************************************************************************************************

Plumeria made you leave the mansion with Guzma to go back to the motel near Tapu Village. She said she would take care of some things for the night, and wanted you to calm down. 

You happily took the offer, looking forward to another night with Guzma. 

As soon as you entered the motel room, he shoved you onto the bed and climbed on top of you. "Now, where were we?" he said, holding your hands. He insisted on taking care of them before returning to his room, and you realized this was probably why, so they had multiple layers of bandages on them. You legs also had band-aids to cover the recent gashes.

"We were kissing...?" you said in a small voice.

"Wasn't looking for an answer," he said before kissing you deeply. He was already sliding his tongue between your teeth, exploring your mouth. You tried to slip your tongue in his, but he stopped you. "Let me do my thing, princess."

He shuffled his way to the end of the bed, running his hands down your legs. "May I?" You nodded, not entirely clear what he was asking, but you didn't particularly mind. He spread your legs just enough to kiss the insides of your thighs, nipping at them teasingly. Your dress rode up to expose your panties to him, which he devoured hungrily with his eyes. "Fuck, they're cute. Aw, and you're soaking through them already. How indecent of you, little lady." 

You slapped your thighs back together, embarrassed. "Shut your mouth, ugh. No one...ever kissed me there."

He laughed, sliding his hands beneath your dress, and started toying with the waistband of your panties. "I can see that." You noticed his sweatpants tenting. "I dunno why it's makin' me this hard either."

You gulped, and looked away. "It feels weird doing this after what happened today."

"Do you wanna stop?" He dragged his hands back down, squeezing your thick thighs.

"I-I don't know, but...It's just a strange feeling, is all."

"Are you nervous?"

"A bit. But I like it when you touch me."

He grinned, then pulled his jacket and t-shirt off. You noticed he had silver nipple piercings, making you squirm from imagining the pain it must have caused at first. He licked his lips before he started toying with his piercing. He grinded against your legs, coaxing you into spreading them again. 

"I won't hurt you," he said. "But tell me if you want me to stop."

You nodded. He rubbed your shoulders for a moment, and then moved down to grab your breasts. The way he squeezed them in his large hands made you shake in delight and pleasure. He returned to his position at the foot of the bed, and spread your legs wider this time. He threw them over his shoulders and he grabbed your waist. You started pulling your dress up, feeling excited. You didn't feel as self conscious as last time, and lifted it so that the only thing hidden was your chest. He grabbed your waist and aligned his hard cock with your entrance, and began to move you up and down against it. 

"How's that?" he asked, biting his lip. 

"S' pretty good..." You covered your mouth so as not to make noise. "Wonder what it'd feel like without clothes sometime."

He chuckled, and moved faster. "Soon, I hope." He planted multiple kisses on your stomach, and pulled at the elastic waistband of your panties with his teeth, making it smack against your skin. "Also, good for you for feeling good right now. Didn't expect you to get that nude for me."

"I guess. It felt right at the time." You started pulling it down. "I think I'm done now though." 

"Fair enough." He moved to lay beside you again, smothering your face with kisses. "Seriously. I wanna see you like that more often."

"What, naked?"

"That, and more confident in your body. It made it more hot."

"Eh. I dunno."

"Promise me."

You hesitated. "I can only try."

He sighed. "Good enough."

"It's nighttime so I'm sleeping. Good night." You felt annoyed on some level, though you weren't entirely sure why. You suddenly regretted lifting your clothes up, embarrassed with your body.

"Sleep well, kitten," he mumbled.

You ended up staying awake through the whole night. You couldn't shake the guilt of doing that with him after what happened today. Did other people do this kind of thing, too? Just make out after bad things happen? It didn't feel entirely right to you to be feeling so good after a mostly bad day.

The thought gnawed at your mind throughout the night. You let it eat you up, until you were too sad to even move the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm getting....impatient with this slow build.....send help


	9. Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader insert is mostly out of this chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> agh sorry for not posting, my internet decided to completely flop over the weekend, and we just got it working again. But Im back!!  
> And 1000 hits holy shit??? THANK YOU SO MUCH, THIS MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!!

Guzma was attempting to get you out of bed. You hadn't budged for hours on end, and you pretended to be asleep all the while. Guzma wasn't buying it though. 

"Fuckin' christ, woman, get your ass up. Weren't we doin' shit today?" He poked your shoulder harder and harder.

"Shut up. Leave me alone," you grumbled. He had already gone out and gotten breakfast at the PMC. He brought back Lavaridge cookies for you, which you refused. You rolled the other way to face away from him.

"Can't grant your wish there. At least eat something, Arceus above. I can hear your belly growling from outside. It's screaming for sustenance."

"Not hungry."

"Something's bothering you, I can tell."

You turned your body just enough to look at him with a blank expression. "Nothing at all."

He frowned, then picked you up. He ripped the blankets away from you and set you standing in front of him. "There. Now you're up."

You rolled your eyes and tried to get past him to lay back down. However, he held on to you by your - well, his - shirt. "Lemme go."

"Can't. Ya gotta get dressed. We're heading over to see Nanu, and see what we can do to get Po Town back."

You snorted. "What good will that do. All that dusty fossil's gonna do is let us soak in the rain, and go back to his hundred Meowths."

"I know the guy well. He's not totally antisocial. C'mon. Get your shit together. We can talk about what's wrong when we get back from business."

You clawed at his fingers, trying to pry them off of the cloth. "Get off! I'm not going!"

"You seemed so eager to help yesterday."

"Well I-ugh- it's not worth it. We're just...just good for nothing numskulls who aren't gonna get anything better handed to us. Seriously, what good can we do, how'll we convince them to let us live there, or anywhere?"

He glared at you. "Gonna talk about your family like that, let alone yourself? We're all good for nothing?"

You gulped, regretting your words. "That's not what I meant - uh - shit I-"

"I know somethin' is eating at you. Every time you're upset or bothered or somethin', you're little Puffball hardly eats a damn thing. You're lying to me, and I don't appreciate that, princess." He clicked his tongue. "Someone is being a prime asshole right now, and it's not me for once."

"Shut your goddamn mouth, fucker. I'm fine, Puff just doesn't eat sometimes. I'm the good for nothing here, OK? Now please let go." 

He released you, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Didn't know you were such a goddamn liar. I'm just trying to help, ya feel? You lying there all mopey isn't gonna help us get what we want. I'll go, you can come meet me if you want." Before you could say a word, he walked out, slamming the door harder than he had to.

You scratched at the scabs that had formed on your hands and legs, making them bleed some more. You deserved to be hurt, you thought. You wanted to help, but you couldn't seem to get yourself out of the door.

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************  
(Guzma POV)

As soon as the door closed behind him, he started pulling violently at his hair. It elicited stares from passerby, making him rip some of the strands out. He threw insults at all of them, then promptly stalked off. 

"Guzma, what it wrong with you?" he chanted to himself, all the way to Po Town. He realized he had done nothing to console you, especially after you insulted yourself. 

"I was the prime asshole, as per usual," he muttered to no one in particular. He jammed his hands in his pockets, kicking at random stones along the path. 

He continued walking without a break until his calves burned uncomfortably. He sat on the staircase of the Aether House, as much as he didn't want to be around it. The blinding white walls hurt to look at, and the cleanliness of it gave it a creepy vibe somehow, especially since with was surrounded by nature and only nature. Not a single stray leaf from a tree, not a smear of dirt from a shoe coming into the house. Who the hell maintained something that well?

"What's got you hot and bothered, kiddo?"

Guzma looked up to meet Nanu's stone cold eyes. "Don't fuckin' call me kiddo."

"Tell your little grunts to stop making old jokes about me."

"Nah."

"Then you're still kiddo."

Guzma shrugged. "Fuck it. Why are you here?"

"Came to see Acerola. She wanted me to look after the place for some reason. Never needed to be watched by anyone before, though."

"She gives me the creeps."

"She does seem otherworldly."

"Yea, yea. I needed to see you anyway."

"Ah, what can I do for my favorite kid on the block?"

Guzma laughed mockingly, and then jabbed a finger into Nanu's chest. "You best fuckin' stop treating me like a child or I'll shorten what's left of your lifespan. Listen here, closely, 'cause I ain't repeating myself to nobody. Po Town is NOT gonna be a rich bastard nest again. There're so many homeless shits here, and what attention did they get? How come nobody sheltered me when I was dirty and clawin' for food on the streets? Po Town was already half abandoned when I made my mark there, when I made a new shelter for the needy. And you're just gonna get rid of us like annoying pests? Not over my fucking dead body. You best tell your little rich cop buddies and rich friends my numskulls aren't budging a fucking step from that place. It's the only home they got."

Nanu grunted, pushing Guzma's hand away. "I told Plumeria that if she got the place spic and span, I'd treat you all to eat at Sushi High Roller. I also told my 'cop buddies' that if they cleaned it up, that they should be able to stay there. No one even filled up the place entirely like you said. It's too overpriced, and even the richer families don't want to be there. But they didn't listen to me." He chuckled. "What, did you think I want see old rich fucks like me take up in there? Nah. I'm not rich, and Alola isn't the most rich region either. I'll be honest, I kind of liked the whole Team Skull territory thing you guys had going on."

"It's not a team anymore. Why'd they let us stay when we were a team? Ya think we would've been kicked out a long time ago."

It was Nanu's turn to shrug. "I guess they thought I had it under control. My reports were vague. I didn't want to see all your hard work get burned to ashes. Listen, you saved kids lives, honestly. They weren't able to get educations because of their trouble making behavior, and you gave them a place to feel welcomed. I'm not a fan of the crime thing, though."

"Forget that shit. What's it gonna take, boss? I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

"I mean, almost, I guess. Unless it's really weird. Is that the direction you're gonna go, something stupid and gross? If so, go to hell."

"Of course not. Listen, I'll make you a deal. If you manage to round up enough of your old teammates, and even new people, and whip them into shape and make them help people, I'll try my damnedest to make my voice heard at meetings I usually don't bother to attend. You have to strive to be similar to the Aether Foundation, helping Pokemon and people alike. Give strays a home, give them homes with other families. Be the big good boss this time."

Guzma paused. "Not a fan of that mansion anymore."

"Ultra Space? Lusamine?"

"Shut it."

"Alright, Lusamine is why. I hate to say it like this, but you have to suck it all up if you want that home to stay for you and your little family."

"Don't tell me to suck anything up. I can do anything I put my goddamn mind to."

"I'm sure you could, bucko. We have a deal or not?" Nanu held out his hand.

"I'll tell them to stop calling you old if you stop giving me those trash nicknames."

"Even better."

Guzma shook Nanu's hand roughly, hating the idea of staying at the Shady House again. "I'll do it."


	10. What the fuck is a title

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh i went back and fixed some old typos, I have HORRIBLE eyes and processing to catch them before I post a chapter.  
> anyways i love you all tysm <3

You couldn't bear to stay alone with your thoughts any longer. You trained around the desert area, finally evolving Bon-Bon into a Tsareena. The aching feeling in your chest went a way, excited for her and your ever-growing strength, only for it to come back again when you realized Guzma wasn't there to celebrate with you. You angrily bit into a Lavaridge cookie, scolding yourself. 

You didn't go inside, and instead ran in the direction of Po Town. You felt desperate for wanting to see Guzma so badly, but it would beat sulking around the motel some more.

As you checked behind you to make sure your Poke buddies were following you, you crashed right into him. You both fell down, rolling in the tall grass, causing wild Pokemon to stir and run away.

"Fuckin' shit, man, what are you in a hurry for?" Guzma asked, breathless.

"I-I was coming to see you dipshit," you answered. 

He smiled. "Didn't think you would." He pulled you in for a kiss. "I wanna know what's troubling you."

"Only after you tell me how it went."

"Fine, fine. Let me up though, rocks are digging into me." You sat up, giving him room. "I didn't even have to go all the way to town."

"That's good I guess. But why?"

He brushed the bits of grass and dirt from his clothes, remaining silent. You shook him gently, urging him on. 

"Calm down, I'm getting there. Actually, how's about we head back, get inside and comfy?"

"You're killing me, man."

He laughed, then kissed your neck. "I try, babe."

You dragged him to the motel, and forced him down on the bed. You sat in his lap, facing him, shaking his shoulders again. "Spill it, spill, spill it!"

He held you steady with a firm grip. He couldn't seem to stop himself from laughing the whole way there. "Jesus, you're so impatient. What, were you all excited to see your boy?"

You slammed your lips into his, shutting him up. He yelped, surprised at you making the move. You pulled away and left him flustered. "Stop teasing. What happened, mister?"

He leaned back onto his elbows, gazing up at you. "Ran into Nanu. He said I had to reform the team and then some into a rescue group so we could get the town back for ourselves."

"Holy shit, really? That's fuckin' amazing, man, we're so doing it!"

"So much for being a downer about it, huh?" You pulled you down again, but only to get you closer to his face. "Your turn. What happened this morning?"

"I..." Your mouth felt sewn shut. You felt like if you told him, he wouldn't take you seriously, call you a wuss. He kept looking at you expectantly. "I don't want to tell you."

He sighed, anger passing his face for a moment. "I told you so much shit, and all I know about your problems is that you hate yourself for no reason. If you're scared don't be. I'm not gonna hit you or anything."

You gulped. "I really don't want to. It's stupid."

"You told me that I shouldn't feel stupid for feeling some type of way. I don't think it's stupid, and practice what you preach."

"Seriously. It might make you feel bad."

"Stop. Just fuckin' say it, for fucks sake."

"Last night bothered me. I was supposed to feel like shit, why did I feel good?" you blurted. The familiar twisting feeling in your gut returned, making you warm all over. 

He paused. "Why would you wanna feel bad?"

"Because it was something serious and I- I don't know, it didn't feel right feeling good."

"But feeling good was better than feeling bad, right?"

"I guess? What do you mean?"

"I wanted you to feel good after what happened yesterday. I knew you'd either get super pissed or super depressed, and we both didn't want those to happen, right?"

"I still-"

"I know. I hate seeing you unable to just...wake up."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm sorry though. I was supposed to a better person, like I promised I would. Why can't shit like that happen overnight?"

You rolled off of him to lay next to him. You snuggled up into his side. "You're ok. I like you."

"I'm honored." He rolled onto his side to face you. "My legs hurt from today and you're too goddamn cute right now, so I'll tell Plumes the news later unless Nanu already did."

You poked him in the stomach, making him flinch. "Not cute."

"Take a compliment would ya?" He returned the poke and pulled you closer by the waist. "I think you're hot as fuck."

You hid your face in his shirt, blushing. "Am not."

He chuckled, and you felt his warm hand slide up under your dress. He squeezed your ass, then proceeded to glide up your spine. "You are, shut up."

You pulled his arm from under your dress and placed his hand on your left breast. "I liked it when you felt me here though."

Guzma shoved you onto your back and sat on top of you, and planted his face in your cleavage. He shivered when you ran your fingers up his neck through his buzzed undercut and then into his fluffy bedhead. 

"I think I...want to do stuff like we did when I feel bad again."

He looked up at you. "Not all the time, we're not. We're not fucking your problems away."

"Right..."

You realized he had slipped your dress up to expose your stomach with you noticing at first. He kissed all the way down your belly to the top of your panties. He took the waistband between his teeth and teased it down just a bit. He pulled you down until your waist was level with the edge of the bed, and he was kneeling on the floor between your legs. You brought them up, resting your thighs on his shoulders. 

"All soaked again. Wait, are you a virgin?" he asked, rubbing your legs.

"Uh - wha- yeah," you stuttered. 

He grinned. "That explains it. I'm gonna make you feel so fuckin' good soon."

You squirmed, feeling goosebumps raise on your skin. "I'm bet you're really good at it." You paused. "It's interesting. Friends for two years and now we're suddenly talkin' about sex."

"It's less awkward," he said in a low voice. 

"A bit." You squeezed his head between your thighs, making his face a deep red. "Especially since I was thinking about it for a while."

He pried your thighs away to say,"One, you better have been thinkin' about me during your little fantasies. Two, don't do that unless you wanna be gettin' a spank, princess."

You clenched your legs together again, smirking. "What was that? Couldn't hear ya."

He groaned. "Fuck you." He spread them again, kissing them up and down. He then bit down, hard, and sucked at the skin, making you moan. The pain felt good somehow.

After leaving his mark, and continued his trail of kisses until he started pulling at your panties with his mouth. He rubbed his tongue against your clit through the cloth, making you yelp and moan loud enough for any other in the motel to hear clear as day. 

"Pipe the fuck down, god. Did you not expect that?" he growled.

"I didn't, oh fuck." He replaced his tongue with his finger, rubbing the small nub in slow circles. You had to bite down on your finger from making noise. 

He stopped suddenly, toying with the edges of your underwear. "Soon. Probably not right away. But I'm gonna make you scream my name where you can be as loud as you want."

"Don't stop," you whined.

He laughed lightly. "Stop what?"

"What you were doing. Rubbing me."

He took his time stroking you, sometimes sliding a finger along your entrance with the cloth creating a barrier. You felt like you could take this for hours on end and never get enough.

"Why are you so fucking slow with it?" you asked, bucking your hips against his hand.

"I feel like it," he responded, stopping entirely. "Besides, if I go any further, you probably won't like it."

"Maybe. I do just like this right now."

You noticed him start to rub himself at the same time as he pleasured you, and hearing his fight for silence drove you even crazier. You couldn't keep track of how long it was until he stopped touching you and kept pumping his cock.

"Wait," he whispered, just loud enough for you to hear. "Shit, I'm gonna cum soon, do you care?"

"O-Oh, no, I guess not," you said, surprised that he got off on just pleasuring you with no role of yours other than to moan. 

His breathing immediately became more labored as he hit his climax, whispering your name. You hadn't cum yourself, but you didn't mind. 

He realized this as well, and as he came down he apologized. 

"Shut your trap, I don't give a fuck. But I liked it a lot," you said.

"You deserve it."

"Sure, but I didn't do anything for you."

"I don't care about that either."

"I do."

"Get your stubborn ass outta here."

"I think I'm done for the day anyways." You turned towards the window to be met with stars and a purple sky. "Well, for the night I guess."

"Shit, it's night? I gotta tell Plumes." He brought his liquid covered hand to his mouth absentmindedly, and started to lick his own fluids off. 

"Do you usually swallow or something?" you asked, nudging him with your foot.

"What are you talkin' about?" He looked down at his hand, and his widened. "I didn't even realize I was doing that. I- Almost always though. If you have to know." He refused to look at you, but there was something more panicky about his tone.

You smiled to yourself. Though how he sounded made you worry. "You sound concerned."

"Don't worry about it. Later," he said, taking his phone outside to call Plumeria, you assumed. 

You sighed, and covered yourself with the scratchy blanket, not bothering to change for the night. He was just outside, and you already missed his presence. You hated but loved feeling so strongly about someone for once. But it worried you that something bad might happen between the two of you. You shuddered, thinking about all the unfortunate events that could occur. 

Guzma returned, yawning loudly. He slipped his shoes off and curled up behind you, and held you in a tight hug. "You sleepy?"

"Yeah. Doin' that takes it out of you, huh?"

"Sometimes. Now go to sleep, kitten."

"I like that name too."

"That's a good kitten." 

Your mood eased, yet your slumber was met with nightmares of Guzma attacking you or him disappearing from your world. 

The next morning, you couldn't remember what in the world you dreamt about, but whatever it was left you in a foul mood.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phhbt it was my birthday yesterday so i didn't update shiiiit  
> i apologize in advance if i stop for a few days, between school and some friends not feeling well, i'm not feelin my best

Guzma was no where to be found that morning either. Your mood sunk even lower, hoping he'd be there to spare a hug to make you feel better. He didn't even leave any note for you. You checked your phone, and as you thought, there was nothing from him. However, Matt had messaged you with news of him, sent in the wee hours of the morning. 

 **_Matteroni &Cheese:_ ** **** _Boss is here?? W/ Plumes??? Where r u tho_

You stifled a loud groan and forced yourself to set your phone down gently instead of chucking it across the room. Why did he bother them at such an insane hour of the night? You didn't bother texting Matt back and instead tried to get a hold of Guzma. Ten unanswered messages and twenty minutes later, still nothing. You stormed out of the motel, Mimi on your heels, Puff and Bon-Bon staying behind to avoid your agitated mood. You called for Charizard again, dreading the fly to Po Town, but tried to suck it up. As soon as you landed, your stomach couldn't handle it any longer, and you puked in the middle of the street, after locking eyes with Nanu. He simply smirked, as if relishing your suffering. You wiped your chin and stuck the slime you wiped off in his face.

"If you lent me that ride just to see my vomit my brains out, you're gonna get it shoved down your throat, you sadistic fuck," you snarled, annoyed to see him. 

He laughed at you. "Not into that kind of thing, sorry. I was genuinely trying to be nice to one of you, but I guess no one wants little ol' me sticking around for them," he responded. 

You wiped your hand on his sleeve, using him as a napkin. "Get your head out of your ass and answer me this. You seen Guz around recently?"

His face contorted in disgust, and started to walk away from you. You tugged him back by his elbow, hearing one of his joints pop as he was jolted to a stop. He looked over his shoulder at you, frowning deeply. "Here I thought you could stop being a smart ass and do something productive. Yet I get a good amount of barf on my shirt first thing after I wake up."

"Fuck it, I'm sorry. I'm pissed, ya feel?"

"When aren't you?"

You sighed and rolled your eyes. "Have you seen Guzma? Not gonna ask again."

He pulled away from you. "He ran off not that long ago. Yelling about hurting people and being poisoned or something. Plumeria went after him and hasn't been back, so I can only assume she's at least hot on his trail. Ask her or something. And you owe me a new shirt."

"Sure, whatever, I'll throw in some Meowth Nip in there too, deal? Thanks, old guy."

He groaned, and stalked off back to the mansion, greeted by your siblings. You were grateful that he bothered helping you and your family out, but he pissed you off to no end to bother liking him. 

As you ran in the opposite direction you dialed Plumeria's number, waiting for her to pick up. After three rings, she finally answered.

"Dude, c'mon, I'm busy. Make it fast," she said between breaths. She seemed winded like she'd been running for longer than her body could take.

"Are you goin' after Guz? Where is he?" you asked.

"I've been looking for him, dammit, and he keeps getting just out of reach. Might be better if you chase after the guy."

"Maybe. Where are you?" 

"He just sprinted into somewhere in the damn meadow, and I lost the fucker. Here, I'll wait for you."

You thanked her and called for a Tauros, hoping your body could take it this time. Thankfully, you were better with speed than heights. Plumeria was kneeling by the entrance from Route 17, still struggling to catch her breath. You sat next to her and patted her back.

"I need to quit smoking," she muttered. She threw her pack of cigarettes as far from her as she could, and she was red in the face. You couldn't tell if it was from anger or from all the running around she did. "Lungs feel like shit."

"And it took this for you to realize that?" you said, shaking your head. "How long have you been smokin'? Never seen you do it before until that one day."

"A bit after I joined the gang. Can you blame me? Being an admin of all y'all numskulls can be stressful as all hell."

"Still, smoking? That was stupid of you."

She leaned into you with a groan. "Stop callin' me on my bullshit, you sound like an annoying Loudred." 

You hugged her, toying with her hair, which was in braids. "Deal. It seems out of place to say it but your hair is cute."

"Th-thanks, I guess." She yanked herself away, her face more red than it was before, if that was even possible.  "We should probably find that prime idiot in there now, though."

"More like I will. You don't look alright."

"Oh, stop givin' a shit. I'm right as rain."

"Seriously. I want to be alone when I find him, you said so yourself."

"Yeah but..."

"So stay."

"You don't know all of it."

You cocked your head, curious. "What's wrong with him?"

"He came over panicking and throwing shit around. He was yellin' about how scared he was and that he was losin' his mind. Dakota only walked in his direction to calm 'im down and then..." She trailed off, looking away.

"Did he - did he hit them?"

She nodded, refusing to look at you. "Smacked 'em, they got a fresh red hand mark on they're cheek. He even shoved me around a bit. He - you shouldn't - I need to be there so you're not hurt, alright? I never in my life seen this boy this freaked out."

You shuddered, worried about your siblings. "And the team...what're we gonna do about the thing? The plan thing, the reforming thing, he was so up for that as far as I saw."

"He's convinced he'll fuck it up. He was goin' on and on about bein' possessed by that Nihilego and Lusamine haunting him or something or another, he's gone nuts." She gulped, and her eyes were glassy. "He's got me shakin' and tremblin' right now. Never been so scared of that twat in all my years o' knowin' him."

You took her hand and squeezed, trying your hardest to reassure her. "That sucks, Plumes. And I'm sorry I wasn't there for that bullshit. But I'm gonna talk sense into him, alright? I never seen you scared, and I don't like what I'm seein' right now."

"Let me come. I'd feel like shit if you got hurt and I'm just sittin' out here while I could be stopping that."

"No, you're not gonna come with me." You pulled away from her and entered the garden. She moved to stop you, but you moved faster away from her. You heard a faint sob as you were enveloped in the mist of the garden.

**********************************************************************************************************************

The trail of trampled flowers and shivering Oricorios led you directly to Guzma. He was curled up by the pond closest to the Route 16 entrance, almost invisible under his Golisopod's upper half if it weren't for his shoes poking out. 

You approached the giant Bug Pokemon, causing it to hold on tighter to his trainer. You sat in front of it, and poked the sole of his shoe, grabbing his attention.

"Go away," he mumbled, pulling his feet closer to him.

"I'm not gonna any time soon. Why'd you leave without telling me at all?" you prodded.

"Stop asking me questions and  _go away_ ," he said in a louder tone. While he sounded angry, there was a hint of fear in the way his voice cracked.

"You can't stop me. Plumes told me what you did to Dakota and her. Why?"

He groaned in response, making himself as small as he could manage with his giant form. 

"Guzma..."

"SHUT UP," he yelled, stirring nearby Ribombee's and Oricorio's. He peeked from behind Golisopod's large claws. "Leave me alone. I'm only gonna hurt you too. Why'd I bother touching you and agreeing to Nanu's stupid deal? Fuckin' pointless if you ask me."

"I trust you, Boss. You can be the... oh, I dunno... the 'construction in human form'? C'mon, what you did was shitty, but it's not forever. They'll forgive you, I bet, but ya gotta come back to us."

"Do it yourselves. I'm no boss of yours."

You scooted closer, and placed your hands on his legs. "You're right about that. You my - uh - b-boyfriend...yeah. My boyfriend. And we all care about you, and this is scarin' us, Guz. We can work this out, right?"

"Can I ask ya somethin'?"

"It better not be asking me to fuck off."

"Why do you bother givin' me advice and try makin' me feel better when you don't do shit for yourself?"

You were knocked speechless for a moment before you were able to utter, "Why don't you?"

He laughed and shook your hands away. "Ya got me there. It just sucks seein' you putting yourself down and then my shitty self makes it worse."

"You're not shitty and you help me a lot. Like...you calm me at my worst and stuff. And you're hugs are really soothing. And you make me feel good about myself."

He was quiet for a while after that. You joined in the awkward silence, and started to pick at the grass, tossing it every which way. 

"Do I really help?" he finally asked, his voice quiet. 

"A bunch, yes." 

He moved Golisopod's arms away and moved closer towards you. "I can't tell if you're lying to me."

"Why would I lie?"

"To make me feel better."

"Good reasoning, but no. Doin' that would be shitty of me."

"Yeah, that'd be a dick move. Well, you help me a lot. I feel less paranoid around you."

"Glad I do that somehow."

"Man, we hate ourselves too much."

"I think we do."

He kissed you, making you melt on the spot. You tried to get closer to him but he pulled away from you. 

"Don't stop..."

He laughed, and kissed you once more before standing up. "I really don't think I can come back to you. Or anyone else. I'm literally poisoned and it feels shitty."

"Wicke can help. I think."

"Doubt it. Not much I can do. Lillie took her bitch of a mom to Kanto to help her out, but I bet my ass whoever's gonna help her is gonna charge shit. She's made of money so it ain't gonna bother her none, but look at me, man. I'm fucking homeless!"

"You don't seem different at all, though. Just scared."

He scoffed. "I feel different. Now leave me alone. I think...I need to think, alright? Please go."

"But-"

"I said go. I don't want to talk about this with anyone right now."

You sighed and walked away, looking back at him multiple times. He was going through to Route 16, creating more distance between himself and his home. 

Plumeria hugged you tightly when she saw you. She had been crying the whole time, she said, internally fighting herself about going in or not. You calmed her down and led her back to the Shady House, grabbing a bunch of your siblings to cook a large dinner. Plumeria got caught up with the chore, and keeping the grunts in check, allowing you to sneak off into your room. Puff and Bon-Bon were there, having made the journey from the motel somehow. They couldn't possibly tell you, so you decided to enjoy the mystery of it all. You had forgotten that Mimi was following you the whole time, and turned to see her staring blankly at you. You kneeled in front her and stroked her body from under the cloth. She would never allow you to see it, but she enjoyed the touch. It was cold and slimy in some places, causing you to cringe from time to time. 

"Thanks, Mimi, you sneaky bastard. I bet you would've pummeled Guzy if he even laid a bad finger on me, wouldn't you?" you cooed. 

"Love..." she hissed in her garbled voice. Every time she uttered a human word or sentence, it freaked you out just a bit. She was the only Pokemon you had ever met that could actually communicate in a language you could understand. 

"Yeah, I bet you love me, huh? Ya get nothin' but the best beans there are, just like my other buddies."

"Not meeeee...you and..."

You gave up on continuing the small conversation with her. She took a liking to starting nonsensical sentences and not finishing them, something that began recently. Only occasionally did she do small normal talk.

"I don't know who else you could mean right now buddy, but  I love you anyways."

She shook her false disguise head, like a human shaking their head no. 

"I'm clearly misunderstanding ya, bub, but you don't make it any easier." She ran away to play with your other Pokemon, leaving you a bit confused. 

You tried to get your apology across to Puff and Bon-Bon but they just looked excited to see you. After you cleaned them off and fed them, you returned downstairs to eat with everybody, and received a few bonks on the head from clumsy hands reaching for things across the new dinner table. The food was just right for once, and everyone overstuffed themselves from the rare super satisfying meal. 

"Y'all know it was because I cooked for once," Plumeria bragged, and half of the grunts agreed and the other half put it as pure luck. 

You stayed mostly silent, deep in thought about Guzma was doing. You helped clean up the mess, and tried to straighten things out in the entrance hallway out of boredom. Your progress was thwarted by Mina and Nina wrestling for a bottle of shampoo. They were pushing each other, fighting to get the last bit before it all ran out, knocking shelves over that you just fixed.

The door slammed open, cold air blasting through the hall. You and the sisters stopped, staring at the door, momentarily scared. 

"B-B-B-BOSS?" Nina stuttered, dropping the last of the shampoo on the ground.

"Fuck, Nina, you wasted it!" Mina yelled, trying to salvage it from the dirty ground. "My hair, it's gonna be so gross tomorrow, oh fuck."

Guzma walked in and closed the doors behind him, soaked to the skin from the rain. "Don't use that little bit of goop, I brought some shit." He held up multiple bags, all filled with bath products and various snacks and drinks, among them, packets for Tapu Cocoa, of course.

"Oh, Arceus above, I don't have to go without! You're the best, Boss!" Mina exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. Nina harrumphed and crossed her arms, kicking at the empty shampoo bottle.

Mina snatched the bags and unloaded them in the kitchen, more grunts congregating around Guzma. He even brought along some new kids, all looking freshly beat up and dirty. Your siblings took them to the bathrooms, gathering clothes from around the house. Plumeria quickly gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder and joined the grunts in caring for the new ones. 

Guzma walked up to you, pulling at his hair. "I'm sorry about earlier, I was probably being such a dick, I'm sorry, I'm so-"

You cut him off with a hug, ignoring how wet he was. "I'm glad you're here," you said, muffled against his body.

"Yeah...I'm done freakin' out. I'm gonna do this shit. I'll be a better boss than Lusamine, that's for sure."

You smiled, and led him up to his previous throne room, helped him undress, and get in dry clothes. 

"Not showerin'?" you asked. "You're gross."

He shrugged, obviously not bothered. "The new ones need it. They came into the meadow, all runnin' away from their mama. All brothers and sisters of the same family."

"How many?"

"Shit, like five?"

"Good thing you were there."

He nodded, running his hands through his drying hair. "Made me realize how much I missed the team. And just bein' around all you freaks of nature. Even if all we did was illegal shit."

You sat next to him on the bed, looping your arm through his. "Proud of you."

He grunted, and buried his face in your hair. He pulled you down to lay on the bed, rubbing your back all the while. "I missed you. It wasn't even a full day, really," he mumbled.

You looked up at him, a blush on your face. "I missed you too."

"Looooooooove..."

You jumped at Mimi's voice in the dark, shooing her away. She giggled in her distorted voice, scurrying out of the room, probably to mess with the other grunts. 

"Told you those things are freakish," Guzma said with a laugh.

"She said something about me and love earlier today," you replied.

He fell silent, and hesitated. "I think I..."

"Think you what?"

"Nothing. Not a thing. Nevermind. You're hearing things."

You poked him in the forehead, laughing at him. 

"I'm so serious, you're hearing voices," he joked. He kissed your forehead instead of returning the poke, hugging you tight. "Wasn't sayin' a thing. Might me Mimi playing a trick."

"You're trying to cover somethin' up way to much."

"Not covering anything up. Shut your trap."

"Maybe you're tired."

"Maybe  _you're_ tired, asshole."

You continued arguing with him for a while, making sleep hard to come by when night arrived. However, you finally drifted off into the land of dreams, Guzma stroking your hair and humming off tune in your ear. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also @ pinesol, i liked the construction in human form thing a lot so i HAD to add it somewhere in there
> 
> and now i'm tempted to like... do a plumeria/fem!reader because i like her a lot too and the scene from earlier made me like her even more somehow...


	12. Chapter 12

For once, you woke up in Guzma's arms. The sheets were damp from him, but you didn't mind. The warmth radiating off of him made up for it just enough. You tried to get as close as you could to him, but every part of you was already in contact with his body. 

"Why do you move so goddamn much in your sleep?" he grumbled, hugging you tighter as he stretched against you. "I think you kicked me over twenty times."

"Shit, sorry, geez. I should've mentioned that I fight little pussies in my sleep," you replied, gently nudging his shin with you foot. 

He grunted, pushing you away. "Alright, asshole, we gotta get up, what time is it?"

"I don't fuckin' know, I just wanna sleep."

Guzma climbed over you to stand in the middle of the room, checking his phone for the time. "It's two in the afternoon, my lord." He threw his shoes on, not bothering with his usual shades, and leaned over you. He kissed your forehead, and left the room. 

You knew he wasn't going to try and fight you out of bed, so you slowly got dressed in a plain shirt and jeans, and as soon as you wobbled down the stairs, your nose was attacked with the smell of sweets and Tapu Cocoa. The smell was even stronger in the kitchen, where Mina and Matt were baking something. 

"Mina, you're overcooking them, stop," Matt complained. "Everything is gonna be a giant fucking crisp!"

"Well, maybe if you weren't just sitting there and nagging me about it, we could be getting these done right!" Mina yelled over the screeching oven alarm. 

Guzma was there, trying to gulp down his Tapu Cocoa, watching the scene play out before him. You grabbed your own cup of cocoa and leaned into his shoulder.

"Dude, look at this. They're tryin' to make a bunch of those Sweet Hearts in cookie form, it's straight up insane," he muttered in your ear, pointing at Matt and Mina bickering. 

"Smells really bad," you said, holding your nose.

"It wouldn't if the shit in the kitchen was clean." He finished the last of his drink, slamming his mug onto the table. "Alright, you knuckleheads, after you're done with this shit, next thing we're gonna do is clean this kitchen, I don't need mold in this house," he announced. 

"Aye aye, captain," Mina answered, over enthusiastically. Matt threw Guzma a thumbs up as he tried to salvage the burnt food. 

You silently finished your cocoa, trying to shake your exhaustion off. However, Guzma stroking your back wasn't helping anything, but you weren't about to complain. 

He leaned closer to you, and whispered in your ear, "Honestly, I don't know what we're gonna do about this reforming thing. Don't have the slightest clue where to start."

"You can start by coming to the Aether House!" a perky voice said.

You both jumped at Acerola suddenly appearing, and you dropped your cup, thanking Arceus it was plastic. She had a pamphlet in her hands, and smiled up at the both of you.

Guzma leaned down to shove his face in hers. "You got five seconds to explain why you're here and why you think it's a good idea to sneak up on big, bad Guz like that."

"Well, Nanu let me over! He said you needed some help to become Team Re-Skull!" she replied, backing away from him. "You're breath smells like cheap coffee, Guzma..."

"Great, now that bastard is choosing team names for us. And I'm gonna pretend like I didn't hear that last part."

She shoved the pamphlet in his hands, giggling. "Sorry, but it does! But like I said, you can come to the Aether House or the paradise to help out with taking care of the Pokemon."

He ripped the paper in half, never breaking his gaze from Acerola's. "Out of the question. I ain't goin' near any Aether Foundation bullshit anymore."

For a moment, she looked like she was about to burst into tears, but it passed as soon as it came. She forced her usual smile, picking up the scraps of the ripped up paper. "Well, you wouldn't have to go near them anyway. The staff don't really want to see you at the moment after...everything...I was talking about the rest of your team!"

You grabbed Guzma by the shoulder, pulling him back just a bit. "How's that gonna help us exactly?"

She shifted her feet, suddenly seeming nervous. "Well...I'm not too sure myself. Uncle Nanu just said this could help with your reputation first. But I don't even know if the Aether employees will let anyone related to Team Skull in..."

Guzma scoffed. "Of course the old fart would give us a half ass plan." 

"Don't be mean to him!" Acerola scolded, smacking his arm. "I've never seen him try as hard as he is with you guys!"

"Am I supposed to be flattered by that? If those Aether fucks won't let us near them, then I'm blaming Nanu."

Acerola crossed her arms and puckered her lips. "Like you have any better idea?"

"Of course I do! Uh... we take mistreated Pokemon to the house and..." He looked at you for help, his face getting redder by the second.

You sighed. "We'll do what we can, Ace. You can take us when you're ready."

She clapped her hands, her mood instantly lifting. "Alright! I can check in with Faba and Wicke and see what we can do! Actually, Wicke might even be able to pull a few strings to help you!" She gasped. "Wait! Gladion took over for Lusamine for now, so maybe it'll be easier than I thought!"

Guzma gaped at you, then at Acerola. "That little edge lord is the president now? Hmph."

"Oh, come on, he's a sweet boy! You liked him, remember? But thank you! We're low on staff actually. Some people left after what happened with the Ultra Beasts..."

Guzma flinched, and rubbed his bare arms. "Yeah, I don't blame 'em." You gave him a reassuring pat on the back, making him smile at you.

"Of course, yes...Um - I'll get going now. See you two lovebirds soon!" She skipped away, her sandals hardly making contact with the ground. 

Mina and Matt were staring at you and Guzma now. "Did she call you two lovebirds?" they asked simultaneously. 

"Yeah, what a little kid," Guzma replied, dragging you away. "She's an immature little asshole."

You heard them burst out laughing as you left the kitchen, leaving you blushing. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aghh i'm back, i fell ill, and i'm still kind of getting over it, so I don't know if this is gonna be any good...i kind felt bad about not updating so this one's short and rushed, idk if i'll delete it later


End file.
